Persuasive Essay On Hockey

Words: 1429
Pages: 6

Fighting has been in the NHL ever since the game was invented and it plays a big role in how the game is played. Such brawling has brought in the role of the enforcer. Enforcers are usually very big defenseman who serve one purpose in the game, which is to make big hits and start fights when needed. As of now hockey is the only non-fighting professional sport that permits fighting. When two or more players fight the refs will usually let them fight until they fall over or the fight ends. Players are given a 5-minute penalty when they participate in a fight, but are not suspended or fined like they would be in football or basketball. Once the 5 minute penalty is up they can keep on playing and get in another fight if they want to. With fighting there comes controversy over if the NHL, should still allow fights to happen because it can be dangerous to fight on the ice. Recently it has been a hot topic due to all the concussion problems in football and just about every player, GM, owner and fans have their own opinion on whether or not fighting should stay or go.
The NHL needs to keep fighting in the game because it plays a bigger role in the game than
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According to Randy Dotinga, when checking another player, the risk of getting a concussion is 4.5% and when fighting it is only .39%. So if people are so worried about concussions, they should worry more about the hitting in the game rather than the fights. The main reason why the percentage of concussions in fights is lower than checking is because it is extremely hard to get good traction on the ice. The ice is slick and it is completely different from fighting in shoes on the ground. When fighting on the ground there is nowhere to slip and the traction is much better than the ice. With less traction and stability, the players punches will be much slower and