Ice Hockey Rules About Fighting

Fighting is not allowed in olympic hockey with the starting fighter receiving a match penalty and ejection.

Ice hockey rules about fighting. Taking care of business the original six era saw fighting established as an ordinary part of the nhl game. The international rules by the international ice hockey federation iihf specify in rule 141 fighting the following penalties among others. With league gms meeting this week to discuss some potential rule changes to implement in future nhl seasons we take a look back at the most notable ones in league history that have shaped the. If the fight occurs off the ice both player s shall be assessed a game misconduct penalty.

A fight in hockey occurs if players get in a dispute during a hockey game. If both fighters receive five minute penalties substitutions can be made. They are allowed to drop their gloves and fight. Rule references 615 a b and 610 h.

The fight will be allowed to go on until a player hits the ice or the referees deem it time to stop. If the fight occurs on the ice both player s shall be assessed a game misconduct penalty and the offending team shall be assessed a bench minor penalty for delaying the game. The most common major penalty is for fighting. History of fighting in ice hockey the nhl was the first to introduce fighting in its league with rule 56.

Other players can receive minor penalties for retaliation game misconduct penalties for intervening in a fight or misconduct penalties for the removal of gloves during a fight. A player charged with a major penalty is sent off the ice for five minutes. The first nhl rules against fighting were introduced in 1922 and set a standard that continues to this day. Yes there are hockey fight rules this rule resulted in players involved in a fight receiving a five minute penalty rather than being ejected from the game.

At the referee s discretion an infraction commonly deemed a minor penalty can be increased to a major. A major penalty 5 minutes is the harshest penalty a referee can dish out without ejecting someone from the game game misconduct. Match penalty the player is ejected from the game and another player serves 5 minutes in addition to any other. In most cases when players want to fight they talk about it on the ice drop the gloves so that no one gets the jump on the other fight then stop when one goes down or a referee gets in between them.

When this occurs the gameplay will be stopped by a whistle from the referees. Despite that fighting in hockey is allowed. The rules penalize fighting so technically it s illegal but not so stringently that it is discouraged completely. Rather than opt for automatic ejection from the game the league decided fighting should be punished with a five minute penalty.