National Hockey League Fights per Game and Viewership Trends: 2000–2020

Fortney, Thomas A.; Tedesco, Liana J.; Kopydlowski, Nathan J.; Korzelius, Jack F.; Desai, Sohil S.; Popkin, Charles A.

doi:10.3389/fspor.2022.890429

Cited by 1 publication

(7 citation statements)

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“…Major League Baseball, the NFL, and National Basketball Association levy harsh fines and immediate suspensions for any player participating in a fight. While fights currently occur in 1 of every 5.5 NHL games, the frequency has been steadily declining since its peak in 1987 at a mean of more than 1 fight per game . Furthermore, recent studies have refuted the conventional beliefs surrounding the importance of fighting in the NHL.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fighting has been implicitly accepted in the National Hockey League (NHL) for more than 100 years . Players participating in a fight are reprimanded with a brief 5-minute penalty but return to play shortly after their altercation .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Proponents of fighting argue that it promotes ticket sales, deters other acts of violence, and positively impacts team momentum . Meanwhile, others have noted the deleterious effects of repetitive head trauma . Enforcers in the NHL are players who engage in fights to intimidate opponents or gain momentum for their team .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fighting has been implicitly accepted in the National Hockey League (NHL) for more than 100 years. 1 , 2 , 3 Players participating in a fight are reprimanded with a brief 5-minute penalty but return to play shortly after their altercation. 4 , 5 Proponents of fighting argue that it promotes ticket sales, deters other acts of violence, and positively impacts team momentum.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 , 6 , 7 Meanwhile, others have noted the deleterious effects of repetitive head trauma. 3 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 Enforcers in the NHL are players who engage in fights to intimidate opponents or gain momentum for their team. 12 The premature deaths of multiple NHL enforcers, including Rick Rypien (aged 27 years), Derek Boogaard (aged 28 years), Wade Belak (aged 35 years), Steve Montador (aged 35 years), and Bob Probert (aged 45 years), have drawn attention to the potential health consequences of fighting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fighting and Penalty Minutes Associated With Long-term Mortality Among National Hockey League Players, 1967 to 2022

et al. 2023

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ImportanceNational Hockey League (NHL) players are exposed to frequent head trauma. The long-term consequences of repetitive brain injury, especially for players who frequently engage in fighting, remains unknown.ObjectiveTo investigate the mortality rates and causes of death among NHL enforcers with more career fights and penalty minutes as compared with matched controls.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis matched cohort study examined 6039 NHL players who participated in at least 1 game in the seasons between October 11, 1967, and April 29, 2022, using official NHL data. Cohorts designated as enforcer-fighter (E-F) and enforcer-penalties (E-P) were selected. The E-F cohort consisted of players who participated in 50 or more career fights (n = 331). The E-P cohort included players with 3 or more penalty minutes per game (n = 183). Control-matched NHL players were identified for each E-F player (control-fighter [C-F]) (n = 331) and each E-P player (control-penalties [C-P]) (n = 183).ExposuresFighting and penalty minutes were both used as proxies for head trauma exposure. Players with significantly increased exposure to fighting and penalties (E-F and E-P cohorts) were compared with NHL players with less frequent exposure to head trauma (C-F and C-P cohorts).Main Outcomes and MeasuresMortality rates and age at death of the enforcer and control cohorts, and their causes of death using data obtained from publicly available sources such as online and national news sources, including NHL.com.ResultsAmong the 6039 NHL players identified (mean [SD] age, 47.1 [15.2] years), the mean (SD) number of fights was 9.7 (24.5). The mortality rates of E-F and C-F players (13 [3.9%] vs 14 [4.2%], respectively; P = .84) or E-P and C-P players (13 [7.1.%] vs 10 [5.5%]; P = .34) were not significantly different. The mean (SD) age at death was 10 years younger for E-F players (47.5 [13.8] years) and E-P players (45.2 [10.5] years) compared with C-F players (57.5 [7.1] years) and C-P players (55.2 [8.4] years). There was a difference in causes of death between the control and enforcer players (2 neurodegenerative disorders, 2 drug overdoses, 3 suicides, and 4 vehicular crashes among enforcers vs 1 motor vehicle crash among controls; P = .03), with enforcers dying at higher rates of overdose (2 of 21 [9.5%] vs 0 of 24) and suicide (3 of 21 [14.3%] vs 0 of 24) (P = .02).Conclusions and RelevanceThe findings of this matched cohort study indicate that there is no difference in overall mortality rates between NHL enforcers and controls. However, being an enforcer was associated with dying approximately 10 years earlier and more frequently of suicide and drug overdose.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%