The AHL has announced new rules regarding fighting and they may eventually impact the future of fighting in the NHL. The new rules are an attempt to cut down on staged fights and aim to eliminate players who fall into the “goon” category.
First, AHL players won’t be able to fight after a draw.
“Players who enter into a fight prior to, at, or immediately following the drop of the puck for a faceoff will be assessed an automatic game misconduct in addition to other penalties assessed.”
This is a clear attempt to remove the silly fights which take place right off the opening draw without any rhyme or reason. These “staged” fights have given legitimate fights a bad name and it’s doubtful anyone will miss them.
“During the regular season, any player who incurs his 10th fighting major shall be suspended automatically for one (1) game. For each subsequent fighting major up to 13, the player shall also be suspended automatically for one (1) game.
During the regular season, any player who incurs his 14th fighting major shall be suspended automatically for two (2) games. For each subsequent fighting major, the player shall also be suspended automatically for two (2) games.
In any instance where the opposing player was assessed an instigator penalty, the fighting major shall not count towards the player’s total for this rule.”
The new mandates above are an attempt to remove players from the AHL who only fight and don’t serve any other purpose. These one-dimensional skaters, or goons as they’re affectionately called, aren’t the most marketable of skaters and they don’t reflect the direction the AHL – or the NHL – hopes to head.
Realistically, these changes will likely make their way to the NHL and it’s doubtful anyone will really notice. Fighting is already down in the NHL as teams focus more on having four scoring lines as opposed to three and one line of brutes. That alone has all but eliminated most of the theatrical fights, but these measures could go a long way in cutting out the rest should the NHL follow in the AHL’s footsteps.
Rich Clune may have summed things up the best:
https://twitter.com/richclune/status/751135367160487936
[Yahoo Sports]
