Quote:
Originally Posted by flamesfever
So in summary I believe you can say that increased fighting in the NHL has happened as a result of:
60's - NHL expansion and emergence of the goons.
70's - Increased physicality of the NHL
80's - Protection of super skilled players, not able to defend themselves
90's - The commercializing of hockey
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I certainly don't have the direct history you do, but based on my reading of NHL history, I would agree that the expansion era NHL was the high water mark for fighting. However, I think your explanation for the 80s is a bit off. The entire reason why Montreal brought up Ferguson in the late 50s/early 60s was because bigger teams were abusing their players. When he retired in 1971, it became a problem for them again. You are also also wrong about the 1990s, as fighting has been in a generally downward trend since the start of that decade.
While I maintain that fighting has always been a prominent part of the sport, if anything, your views support the idea that the brutality of the early NHL was curtailed by the increasingly controlled nature of fighting over time.