Bench Clearing Brawl Rules 25-Years Old
Twenty-five years ago the NHL put new rules in place to curb the amount of bench-clearing brawls that were happening in the league.
An AP report published Sep 18, 1987 via The New York Times gives us the scoop:
Under the new rules, the first player leaving the bench for a fight would receive a 10-game suspension as well as a game misconduct. His coach would get a five-game suspension and his team would be fined $10,000.
There are more lenient penalties for the players who followed.
This wasn't the initial rule, just a harshening of it. Players were thrown out, given a three-game suspension and some bonus penalty minutes that meant nothing.
There was another fighting-related rule change that included an instigator provision. As a reminder, in 1987 John Ziegler was president (not 'commissioner').
