Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
The issue of fighting in hockey never seems to go away. Year-in and year-out, the debate over the place of fisticuffs in the sport remains a hot-button topic. And a brand new poll suggests more Canadians than ever see fights as something unnecessary to the game.
The new poll, commissioned by Research Co., questioned 1,000 respondents and found that, by a 2-to-1 margin, Canadians support a ban on fighting in professional hockey. And when those questioned described themselves as hockey fans, half of them supported outlawing fights altogether. That said, some 57 percent of Canadians believe the NHL is doing either a good or very good job in terms of its care for the safety of players. Canadians who identify as “true fans” and believe the NHL is doing good or very good in that regard rises to 86 percent.
Meanwhile, the idea of banning head shots in pro hockey still resonates with Canadians, as 76 percent – and four-in-five “true fans” – support such an initiative. And 63 percent of Canadians (and 67 percent of “true fans”) believe the sport would be better without head shots. But when it comes to believing there would be a positive effect if fighting was banned, that number drops to 44 percent of Canadians and 39 percent of “true fans”.
There are other mixed messages that come out of the Research Co. poll. To wit: approximately 27 percent believe pro hockey has become more violent in the past half-decade. More than one-third of Quebec residents (37 percent) and Ontario residents (35 percent) agree with that statement, while a smaller number of Atlantic Canadians (33 percent), Saskatchewan and Manitoba residents (32 percent), British Columbia residents (29 percent) and Albertans (20 percent) agreed with that notion.
Some Canadians – one-in-four – said they would encourage their children to avoid playing hockey as a result of violent incidents, and the same number of Canadians said they would watch fewer hockey games than they presently do.
In Research Co.’s previous poll, which was conducted in 2021, 80 percent of Canadians — and 89 percent of self-identifying “hockey fans”— supported banning head shots in pro hockey. Canadians favored the idea by a similar, 2-to-1 margin (60 percent to 29 percent) and three-in-four hockey fans (74%) said they believed hockey would be better off if heads shots were banned from the pro game.
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News Summary:
- New Poll Shows Canadians Becoming Disenchanted with Fighting in Hockey
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