Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

OHL Fighting Down 20% Due To 10-Fight Rule

11/25/2012 at 8:28pm EST

from Jeff Z. Klein of the New York Times,

“Generally, it’s done a decent job of getting rid of the staged fights,” said Windsor Coach Bob Boughner. “I don’t think it’s an antifighting rule, but the league wants to see fighting curbed. They don’t want to see a player get 30 or 40 fights in a season, and I have some agreement with that.”

Boughner is no pacifist. He had 105 fights during his 10-season N.H.L. playing career, and with him behind the bench last season, the Spitfires’ 101 fights led the O.H.L. by a wide margin. They lead again this season but are on pace to finish with 90.

The O.H.L. sends more players to the N.H.L. than any other development league. The league’s president, David Branch, is seen as the leader in reforming the game at the major junior level. He imposed penalties for hits to the head four years before the N.H.L. did, and in 2009, he made a player subject to suspension for removing his helmet to fight.

The 10-fight rule is the latest in a series of small steps to reduce fighting and, as he put it last season, “evolve away from it.”

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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