The war on fights continues on: ECHL
It’s an undercurrent that is building among the leagues and the debate of the reasons behind it will continue on. Today the ECHL’s new rule this season came to light. Every time a player hits 10 fights in the season (of which there were 18 players last year) they will be suspended for one game.
ECHL Rule 23.7 has major changes for 2019-20:
When players reach 10 fighting majors they are suspended for one game. Each subsequent fighting major will be a one game suspension. At 14 fighting majors the suspension becomes two games.
FYI, 18 players had 10+ fights in 2018-19.
— ECHL Stats (@EchlStats) September 24, 2019
As the tweet/rule says, if you eclipse 14 fights in the season, each additional fight will be a two game suspension.
In the NHL, there has been a clear directive (in my opinion, allegedly) in the last year/two years to have linesmen interrupt the fight if there is even a slight opening.
Examples from this preseason alone:
Haley vs Stewart
Kaut vs Seeler
From where I blog, I would imagine that this rule change really won’t stop much from the true fighters in the league. One game/two games? Well worth.
At the end of the day, hockey players are adults and as the science continues to roll out, we respect those who continue to police the game and maintain the code. It’s been a point of frustration to our followers all over the social media, but what do you think about the move?
