A veteran of nearly 130 career fights, Kyle Clifford can see a day when dropping the gloves in the NHL has serious repercussions beyond a five-minute penalty.
Just not any time soon.
“It’d be a while before you see that,” said the bruising Toronto Maple Leafs winger. “Eventually, I’m sure they’ll go that way.”
It could happen a lot sooner in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
One of Canada’s three top-tier junior circuits, the QMJHL delayed a vote on the possibility of taking a harsher stance towards fighting at a meeting Thursday. But the league’s member teams are expected to reconvene in August, with 12 of 18 clubs needing to approve any proposed rule change.
“Whether we ban fighting outright or simply impose stricter penalties for fighting, those were the elements that made our debate very nuanced,” QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau told reporters Thursday in Dorval, Que. “This is not a debate we’re taking lightly.”
Canada’s other two major junior leagues — the Western Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League — allow fighting, although the OHL added mandatory suspensions for reaching a certain threshold in 2016.
A player who instigates a fight in the QMJHL in the final five minutes of regulation with one team leading by two goals or more currently receives an automatic one-game suspension. A player is also handed a one-game ban if he racks up more than three fights under the same conditions without the instigator penalty being assessed.
Nothing on table for OHL, WHL
Leafs centre Frederik Gauthier, who played three seasons in the QMJHL, understands why the league might want to slam the door shut on fighting, especially considering the dangers of concussions and head injuries, and the varying size and maturity of junior players.
“There’s not much fighting in that league these days,” said the 24-year-old. “A guy can get a lot bigger between 16 and 20 years old. There’s a big age gap. I’m assuming it’s a safety thing.”
OHL commissioner David Branch, who’s held the job since the late 1970s, said there’s nothing currently on the table with his league when it comes to a change in approach to fighting.
“We’ve taken some significant steps in the area of fighting with the view of working towards reducing it and seeing it potentially evolve to where it very rarely occurs,” said Branch, who also served as Canadian Hockey League president from 1996 until September. “I don’t believe you’re ever going to have an outright prohibition on it, but it’s a work in progress.”
A fight for the Leafs? WELCOME Kyle Clifford<a href=”https://t.co/pv4LjRahPY”>pic.twitter.com/pv4LjRahPY</a>
Branch said fighting is down roughly 45 per cent in the OHL since the implementation of a rule that sees a player suspended after his fourth altercation of the season.
“We’re having one fight every three or four games, which is a far cry from what the numbers were,” he said. “You’re always looking at ways you can continue to provide the safest environment.”
A spokesperson with the WHL said in an email it’s not considering a ban on fighting. The CHL, an umbrella organization that oversees the country’s top junior leagues, declined to comment because the QMJHL discussion is a regional matter.
Unintended consequences of banning fighting
Asked about the potential for harsher penalties or an outright ban on fighting in the QMJHL, Ottawa Senators winger Nick Paul said it still has a place in the game.
“If you don’t have [fighting] then it gets real chippy and guys start using their stick,” said the 24-year-old, who played three seasons in the OHL. “When guys do something really dirty, what are you going to get? Two minutes?
“When you know you have to answer the bell, guys think twice.”
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Development leagues outside Canada, like the NCAA in the United States, tend to have stricter penalties for fighting. The International Ice Hockey Federation has an automatic game misconduct, while a U.S. college player gets an early shower and is also forced to sit out his team’s next game.
But Paul said the lack of fighting at lower levels could have unintended consequences.
“If you’ve never fought and then you come into the pros and there’s fighting, it’s completely different,” he said. “If you’ve never been in a fight before it can be dangerous.”
The NHL has so far avoided making changes in its approach to fighting. The league has instead managed to cut down on the fisticuffs by enforcing rules that promote speed and skill.
‘The game’s changing’
According to the league’s official statistics, there were 1,284 fighting majors in 2010-11 compared to just 450 last season. Ten years ago, 37.8 per cent of games included at least one fight. In 2018-19, it occurred in just 15.3 per cent of contests, with similar projections for this season.
Long gone are the days of a designated tough guy who only sees a few minutes of action a night.
“The game’s changing,” said Clifford, who played three years in the OHL and is in his 10th professional campaign. “You look at even the NHL, there’s a lot less fighting.”
According to the website hockeyfights.com, the 29-year-old has fought 129 times in his career, with 81 coming in the NHL. Clifford dropped the gloves on 18 occasions as a rookie with the Los Angeles Kings in 2010-11 and hit double digits in two other campaigns, but has just four in 2019-20.
“It’s their decision,” Clifford said of whatever route the QMJHL takes. “Everyone that’s in the NHL now that plays that style can play the game, too. They’re solid fourth-line, third-line players and they contribute.”
Traded to the Leafs earlier this month, Clifford said even though fighting is down — and could be out the door someday altogether — it doesn’t detract from the raw emotion in the best league in the world.
“You see that come playoff time,” he said. “There’s rarely any fighting, but just that drive and competitive spirit is what makes the NHL such a great game.
“Now over the last seven or eight years we’re adding a ton of skill and ton of speed.”
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
