This one is bound to ruffle a few feathers, especially among the hardcore, old-school hockey fans. According to a report by
The Hockey News, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) will ban fighting completely during a vote by the league's board of governors in June.
The QMJHL has been debating a possible ban for sometime. A spokesperson confirms fighting will get the axe.
"The QMJHL is planning to have a rule in place that will ban fighting, making it black and white that it is no longer a part of our game. The punishments have not been decided as of yet. We will be looking to have a rule in place in June when the next general annual assembly of the members of the board of governors takes place."
There's no question the game of hockey has been changing over the last couple of decades. There are very few, if any true enforcers left in the NHL as the league moves more towards skill and speed rather than hits and fights.
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Oddly enough, the move to ban fighting in the QMJHL - which includes teams from Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia - has been championed by Enrico Ciccone, who had 85 fights in 374 NHL games. Ciconne, now a member of the National Assembly of Quebec, insists he doesn't want younger players going through what he and his teammates had to go through, referring to multiple long-term injuries and possible brain damage.
The QMJHL had previously brought in extra punishments to reduce the amount of fights it had, and that appears to be working. According to The Hockey News, there was an average of 0.78 fight-per-game in the Q league in 2011-2012. That number was way down to 0.07 fights-per-game last year. It doesn't appear to have impacted attendance at games. It remains to be seen whether the Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey League will follow suit. The QMJHL has long been considered the least physical of the three major Canadian junior leagues. It's not yet clear what punishments will be doled out for fighting next season with the ban in place. A league spokesperson said that will likely be decided in June.
Source:
The Hockey NewsADS
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