Three fights — not 10 — and you’re out
Ontario Hockey League adopts new fighting rule
The Ontario Hockey League has taken another tough stance on fighting.
The OHL recently announced a new rule for the 2016-17 season lowering the threshold prior to automatic disciplinary action being assessed from 10 fights per player per season to three fights per player per season. Players exceeding such threshold will be subject to an automatic two-game suspension, for each fight exceeding the threshold.
That’s a drastic measure, one new Niagara IceDogs coach Dave Bell isn’t quite sure is necessary.
“My thoughts are I don’t understand it because last year the 10-fight rule, nobody got to 10 fights in the whole league,” Bell said. “The rule worked and it was well executed by the league. I don’t know how this is going to work. “I think 10 is a good number.” Since the adoption of the 10-fight threshold for the 20122013 season, the league has seen the number of fights in the league decrease by 49.5 per cent and for the past two seasons have not had a single player with more than 10 fights based on the threshold criteria established.
“The OHL continually challenges ourselves to improve the on-ice environment and evolve the game for the benefit of the most important people in our game, our players,” OHL commissioner David Branch said in a press release.
Bell said he loves the fact the league has taken staged fighting out — a staged fight sees players ejected for the balance of the game — but isn’t sure it was necessary to drop the number from 10 down to three for fights which occur as a result of good, tough physical play.
“If you’re asking your players to play hard in front of the net and in front of the corner, you can have three fights just by competing,” he said. “No staged fights, not being a tough guy, not being a goon. You can fight three times a year easily and now you’re to lose that guy for two games.
“I don’t get it but we’ll see how it plays out.”
One part of the rule in particularly interesting: If a player is instigated upon, the fighting major is not included in the player’s total number of fights.
“I have to trust the league will do it properly being instigated upon,” Bell said. “I want our guys to play hard and not back off of dirty areas playing the puck and battling in front of the net. We have to play aggressive. I hope teams get mad at our team the way we play, and if they end up fighting our guys because they are tenacious on the puck, then I just have to trust the league will look after us because this is what the league put in place.
“I’m not going to ask them to change the way they are playing.”
Bell indicated he will address the team on the change at training camp which begins Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Meridian Centre.
The league has also adopted a “Blindside Hit Rule” whereby there will be a penalty assessed for those players who check an opponent from the blindside. Based on the discretion of the referee, a minor, major and game misconduct or match penalty may be assessed. Such infraction would also be subject to review and possible supplementary discipline by the league.
As well, the OHL has adopted the current NHL hybrid icing rule.
Bell isn’t sure he likes that rule, either.
“That makes even less sense to me, he said. “It’s a hard, hard, hard rule to implement.”
Hybrid icing sees the linesmen make a split-second decision on whether the play will be called an automatic icing or if touch icing will be implemented based on the position of the players in relation to the puck.
“The NHL have the best linesmen
in the world. That is their full-time job. They have video, sessions, workshops, supervisors. Now we have part-time guys trying to implement this rule,” Bell said. “It’s a 40-foot area that they have to make the decision and be demonstrative enough to yell it to the kids going for the puck.
“I think it’s stupid in the NHL. I just don’t get it. Either keep it the way it is or go to 100 per cent touch icing and it’s a battle until the puck gets touched. We’re asking our referees to do more. We’re continuing to make it harder on them.”
Tuesday training camp begins with registration at 11 a.m. followed by a meeting for players and their parents. Players hit the ice at 1 p.m. Camp continues through the week. The IceDogs host the Barrie Colts Friday at 7 p.m. at Thorold Arena in their first exhibition game. The teams meet again Monday in Barrie at 6 p.m.
My thoughts are I don’t understand it because last year the 10-fight rule, nobody got to 10 fights in the whole league. The rule worked and it was well executed by the league. I don’t know how this is going to work.”
Niagara IceDogs coach Dave Bell