GMs want `staged' fighting eliminated

I agree with Lombardi. What is the world is a staged fight? There are no staged fights. They all serve a purpose. Just because the fight doesn't arise from a physical encounter to begin with, doesn't make the fight any less real or meaningful.

Burke is a moron. The instigator leads to more injuries in the NHL than it prevents. It's not hard to see this.

Another subjective interpretation for each ref to call differently. Not good.

I totally disagree. The instigator rule will help reign things in. This "no fighting right after the face-off" thing is a joke. Guy skates up: "wanna go?" Other guy: "No. I don't want 10 minutes." First guy: "Too bad. Drop them or I drop you, [insult regarding sexual preference, mother's favor activities or relative toughness, or all of the above].

Or the fights will just move to the end of play.

Gm's like Brian Lawton, who hated fighting when he was a player, are leading the movement to change the fighting rules. He was p*ssy of a player.
Let the big boys go at it!

The biggest problem i can see is the instigator penalty as it relates to a "clean" hit.
What if the hit isn't clean, but the refs miss it?
BAD IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with half of the statements made. If it is right off the draw on a face off...pointless.

But, if the players are at least involved in the play, let 'em at it. Especially in defense of a teammate who gets nailed. The idea of standing up for one another makes the team aspect of the game stronger. If you take that away, it might change the whole dynamic of how the players stick up for one another. Especially in the event that a star player gets run down. Remember the uproar caused when Doughty got knee'd and nobody stood up for him? Talk about a double standard...

There are no staged fights? That's a new one.

Always thought they were lame and worthless.
I get a total wrestling vibe every time one takes place.
I hate wrestling.

The puck's about to drop...

Goon 1: "Hey! Wanna go?"
Goon 2: "Huh?"
Goon 1: "Let's do it. Drop 'em."
Goon 2: "Uhh, ok I guess. If we have to."
Goon 1: "Come'on! You want a job still or not?"
Goon 2: "Ok, ok. Just don't hit me square. My jaw is still sore."

Puck drops, crowd cheers.

Lame.

I have no problem doing something about the staged fights.

But the instigator rule has got to go. Just look at the numbers. Injuries are on the rise because guys are not allowed to protect their teammates for fear of taking an instigator penalty and costing their team a close game.

Let the players police themselves. They did it for years, and the game was more than fine.

Can anyone recall a "staged" fight during a Kings game this season? Or anything remotely like one? I still don't fully understand the concept.

It's like saying something is a "real imitation".

I find it humorous that Risebrough is that vocal against it...he employs Boogaard, don't he?

let em fight.

Does no one here like olimpic style hockey? Miracle on ice 1980, it doesn't get any better than that, with no fights and the refs policing the game. Imagine that, the refs policing the game...

I agree with nykingfan...What if in the case of say the hit on Doughty by Artuykin, or whatever his name is,the refs see it as a "clean" hit, but players see that it wasn't? Then what? Are we going to have star players in the league getting runs taken at them by guys who no longer have to worry about a retaliation?

As we all know, a majority of the time, it's the reaction to an incident that the refs catch and not the initial incident that caused the response. This will be tricky to enforce fairly and correctly

Seriously, if most of you are watching NHL games from any city and you haven't seen or have any idea what a staged fight is, then you should be watching a different sport. The GM's are not trying to end or take fighting out of the game. But they and alot of fans (including yours truly and I played the game) are tired of the BS right after two guys come on the ice, the puck drops and they're dropping the gloves and the only skating they have done is from the bench to the face-off. Now, let's say Artyukhin has just nailed Doughty again and Artyukhin is on the ice for the next face-off and Westgarth comes on, that's not a staged fight, that's in response to a bad hit. If it's a clean hit, it's a clean hit, if the player that was checked didn't like it, let him take care of it himself or our guy just hammers their guy in the corner with a really good hard check. Just remember, payback doesn't always come on the next shift or maybe even in that game, but payback will happen. Believe me Doughty's hit hasn't been forgotten.

this is hockey fighting is part of the game,let the guys retallat. Get rid of the instigator

Come on. A fight after a face-off -- so what? That's when the players TALK to each other. They're not having lengthy bull sessions when they are trying to hustle in the other direction up the ice.

What doesn't Brian Burke understand? Let's say one team is routing another team. Player on the losing team tells another player he wants to punch him in the face. So what if that seems "staged". A fight has the possibility of firing up one or the other team whenever it happens. I don't understand Burke's lack of understanding. Don't "finesse" the NHL fighting rules any more than they already are. Hands off the rules, Burke, or I'll deck ya.

Al,

Good example of why they shouldn't change the fighting rules.
We wouldn't be able to retaliate against the Artuykin hit because it was deemed a clean hit even though we all saw it was a dirty hit. We would get penalized either with an instigator or misconduct.
If Westgarth lines up next to him and they go at it...they would consider that a staged fight.

The staged fighting is stupid, I agree with the GM's who want to do something. When Parros and Ivanans go at it right off a face-off before a hard check has even been thrown in the game, it just comes across as silly. This is something that has been bugging me for some time.

But absolutely do not touch fighting as a whole. I contend a huge reason why the NHL playoffs can be so unpredicatable is because chemistry is more important than in any other league, a huge chunk of which has to with the fact these guys are literally fighting for their teammates.

I have a problem with the interpretation of "staged" This word makes it sound as if the fighting is not real. The fights are very real.
In my opinion we need to stop changing the rules in the NHL. Why are we doing this? To make the game more popular with people that are offended by the physical nature of the game? Screw them! Let them watch baseball. This is Hockey. This game was built on a long tradition of Athleticism and Bravery. Intimidation is a big part of the game. Without it, we would have nothing substantial holding the players accountable for their actions. There is nothing wrong with two guys lining up across from each other and engaging in mutual combat. Just because the reason might not be evident to us or the refs. DOES NOT MEAN THE FIGHT WAS FOR NO REASON or is "staged".
This fight could be a carry over message from a previous game. There's a ton of reasons to keep fighting in the game. If you really understand Hockey, if you've been out there on the ice when someone takes a cheap shot at you or one of your team mates, if you believe that people should be held accountable for their actions, if you believe that the punishment should fit the crime, then you can't agree with them removing this part of the game. Dirty, cowardly players will have free reign if they know that Ivanans, or any other enforcer are not allowed to do the MAIN function of their job. Which, by the way is to protect their team mates by ENFORCING the rules. Anyway, it's not like Boogard is facing off with Kopitar, or Crosby and dropping the gloves. They are lining up to the guilty party or the opposite teams enforcer to send the message.. THIS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. You can't take a cheap shot that can potentially injure one of our guys and skate away with a 2,4 or 5 minute penalty. Penalties are not good enough motivation to keep some players out of the box. AND I for one don't trust the refs to make the right call on this rule. They screw up all the time as it is.