Still today though, they remain a part of the sport and recent polls show that today’s modern day NHLer is still in favor of keeping fighting in the sport.
Since the NHL implemented drastic rule changes and harsher penalties to curb on-ice brawls late in the 1970s, fighting penalties have been on the decline. Teams like the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins of the NHL employed their size, physicality and fighting prowess to multiple Stanley Cup championships in the decade. Most teams employed multiple enforcers or “goons” on their team whose responsibility it was to beat the living pulp out of the opposition. Rodney Dangerfieldįighting in the sport of hockey was at its absolute peak in the 1970s. I went to a fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out. In fact, fighting became so pervasive in the sport that it spawned a classic quip from legendary one-liner comedian Rodney Dangerfield:
During this particular decade it was not uncommon to see full on bench clearing brawls at a professional hockey game. But when the fisticuffs really took off was during the rough and tumble, free wheeling 1970s. Fighting has been a part of hockey since its earliest days.
