The Bizarre Culture of Hockey Fighting

In most sports that are played in the 21st century, every move that you make on the field, on the court, on the ice, or on whatever surface you play on, has a direct effect on the outcome of the game. In other words, attaining successes during the playing of the sport usually help a team inch closer to victory in a tangible way. However, hockey is not like these sports. In certain formats, the game of hockey plays host to what some might call a “mini-game,” a competition in which victory means, well, absolutely nothing to the overall game. This irrelevant game within the game of hockey is known as fighting. A hockey fight occurs when two or more players decide to engage in fisticuffs. There are many special rules governing how a fight is to be conducted, but these rules are fluid and have varied over the history of the game. The only constant in fighting is that you are assessed a penalty for doing it. There exists a bizarre practice of allowing fighting to occur, while ...