REAL Hockey Fans Like Fights

Kudos to TSN for writing this article up, as they tend to lend material that leans toward the small, but wiry, anti-fighting crowd. I can’t help but enjoy a good laugh when viewing the results. You see, the anti-fight crowd, especially some bloggers, have the gall to say that fight fans aren’t real fans of hockey. On the contrary, this poll indicates the exact opposite. Some quotables (read up Yuppie Hockey League fans):

The Decima survey found that a huge majority of people who call themselves avid fans - a whopping 76 per cent - oppose eliminating fights from NHL games.

"The issue of what to do about fighting in hockey is really not that controversial among hard-core fans of the game," said Bruce Anderson (Decima’s CEO).

Barely one-fifth of avid fans - 22 per cent - said they would support a total ban on fighting.

Those who follow the game occasionally are split more evenly, with 43 per cent saying they would support a ban and 52 per cent saying they would oppose it.

"The NHL needs to look at these numbers and understand the difference between fan opinion and public opinion," Anderson said.

"Fan opinion is decidedly of the view that current regulations are working well enough. . . And even though it's easy to find outrage over certain incidents from time to time, even public opinion is divided among those people who don't pay much attention to the game."

The Decima poll of 1,000 Canadians was conducted between March 30 and April 2, and has a 3.1 per cent margin of error.

Basically, yuppies like Bleatings from a Raw Ass and Damian Cox can suck an egg. All that's left now is for them to make patheticly discredit the poll as unscientfic. And any time you see these nitwits claim that you are not a real hockey fan because you enjoy a good fight, point them directly to this poll. Let them know that, in fact, if anyone is not a hockey fan, it's them.

The NHL Players Have Spoken - Keep Fighting in Hockey

The Hockey News released the results of the NHL players' poll. The players reiterated their support for keeping fighting in the NHL. Specifically, 97% of the players voted to keep fighting as 5 minute major. Of particular interest is not a single player thought that fighting should be penalized by a Game Misconduct. Here are some more interesting questions and player responses:

What is an appropriate penalty for fighting?
1) 5 minutes (273) 97%
2) 10 minutes (5) 2%
3) 20 minutes (3) 1%
4) Game misconduct (0)

Would you rather see a fourth-line roster spot go to:
1) An enforcer (177) 66%
2) A skilled player who can play the power play and participate in theshootout (93) 34%

How do you feel about the NHL schedule format?
1) There should be more games against the other conference (248) 89%
2) Like it the way it is (25) 9%
3) There should be fewer games against the other conference (6) 2%

Who is the most respected player in the NHL?
1) Joe Sakic (166) 63%
2) Nicklas Lidstrom (30) 11.4%
3) Brendan Shanahan (19) 7.2%
4) Martin Brodeur and Chris Chelios (7) 2.6%
5) Rod Brind’Amour, Jarome Iginla and Scott Niedermayer (6) 2.2%
6) Sidney Crosby and Jaromir Jagr (3) 1.1%
7) Teemu Selanne and Mats Sundin (2) 0.76%
8) Zdeno Chara, Rob Blake and Martin St. Louis (1) 0.38%

Who is the most hated player in the NHL?
1) Sean Avery (168) 66.4%
2) Jordin Tootoo (14) 5.5%
3) Darcy Tucker (9) 3.5%
4) Jarkko Ruutu (8) 3.1%
5) Marc Savard (7) 2.7%
6) Chris Neil (6) 2.3%
7) Sidney Crosby (5) 1.9%
8) Donald Brashear and Matt Cooke (4) 1.5%
9) Matthew Barnaby, Jason Blake, Zdeno Chara, Ben Eager, Steve Ott and Brendan Shanahan (2) 0.79%
10) Derek Boogaard, Dany Heatley, Ryan Hollweg, Sean Hill, Cam Janssen, Paul Kariya, Ryan Kesler, Kirk Maltby, Dominic Moore, Steve Ott, Michael Peca, Dion Phaneuf, Chris Pronger, Maxime Talbot, Raffi Torres, Ryan Whitney and Brandon Witt (1) 0.39%

Who is the most overrated player in the NHL?
1) Sean Avery (17) 8.5%
2) Bryan McCabe and Brad Richards (16) 8%
3) Pavel Kubina (9) 4.5%
4) Marc Savard (8) 4%
5) Jaromir Jagr (7) 3.5%

What’s your position on the visor issue?
1) Keep it optional (214) 77%
2) Grandfather it for all players entering the NHL (44) 16%
3) Mandate it for all players (20) 7%

Globe and Mail Hockey Fight Poll Rigged...

The Globe and Mail has been running a poll on fighting. It seems that the poll is adding No votes every few minutes and removing Yes votes as well. I have tested it personally and can verify that the poll is indeed dysfunctional. On purpose or not (and it is difficult to have a faulty poll), this is slightly embarrassing for the Globe.

To the Polls! Hockey Fight Polls Offer Reassurance

Let me just get a couple out of the way in one entry. To access more fighting polls, click on the "Polls" label at the bottom of the page.

http://www.wgr550.com/?vo=1

Should the NHL consider banning fighting?

Yes - 13%
No - 87%
1664 votes

http://midatlantic.comcastsportsnet.com/

Do you like fighting in hockey?

Yes, it's part of the game - 81.5%
No, it's not necessary - 18.5%
275 votes

http://www.ottawasun.com/Sports/poll_results.html

Do you enjoy a good hockey fight?
Yes - 85%
No - 15%
Total Votes for this Question: 792

And an update on Yahoo's poll (http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl):

Fighting in the NHL:
There's too much - 10%
It's not an issue - 52%
There should be more - 38%
43164 Total Votes

Don Cherry Talks Fighting

Stop the presses... Don Cherry talked fighting today. Cherry mentioned a players' poll that came back saying 97% of players and 84% of fans want fighting in hockey. Cherry also mentioned an interesting rumor that Colin Campbell has asked commentators to be kinder and gentler when there is a fight on the ice. Folks... it's the NHL... it's believable.

Another Fan Poll; Another Win for Fighting

Yahoo Sports is devoting their front page to the debate on hockey fighting. Another poll... another win for fighting in hockey.

Fighting in the NHL:

There's too much 10%

It's not an issue 51%

There should be more 39%

29836 Total Votes

As it stands... 9 out of 10 fans think fighting is good for hockey. So what's the issue?

Instigator Poll Update from CBC

I don't know how long they'll keep the poll up, but I can't but update CBC's After Hours poll on whether or not the Instigator should be removed.

This Week's PollThis Week's Poll
Should the NHL eliminate the instigator penalty rule?

Yes
(703) 81%
No
(168) 19%

Total Votes: 871

Let's Get These in Stone...

Polls disappear. I make them reappear:

January 11th ESPN Poll Displays that 94% of Hockey Fans Want to Keep Fighting in Hockey

Over 20,000 votes
______________________________________________

January 26th Toronto Sun Poll:

How would you rate the recent performance of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman?

Good 6%
Fair 13%
Poor 24%
Awful 57%

930 votes

Fight Poll from Bostonbruins.com

Check it out... a recent poll on http://www.bostonbruins.com/ (results taken November 26, 2006). A meager 3.5% of hockey fans (who else would be on the Bruins site?) have a negative perception of hockey fights. 90% of hockey fans enjoy them.

Do hockey fights bother you? Current Results:

67.88%
Nope, I love 'em.

23.63%
I don't mind them, especially when someone stands up for a teammate.

4.98%
I don't care either way -- part of the game.

2.1%
I'm not a big fan.

1.4%
They bother me very much