why are they allowed to fight in hockey

They aren’t truly “allowed” to fight in hockey so much as the rules manage fighting instead of banning it outright, especially in North American pro leagues like the NHL. Players are penalized (usually a five‑minute major) but not automatically ejected, which is very different from sports like basketball or soccer.

How the rules treat fighting

• In the NHL rulebook, fighting is a specific infraction with its own section (Rule 46), similar to tripping or hooking: it is illegal but anticipated. Players who square off and drop the gloves usually each get a five‑minute major penalty and sit in the penalty box, then can return to the game afterward.

• Extra penalties (instigator, misconduct, game misconduct) can be added if one player clearly starts it, leaves the bench to join, or the fight gets out of hand.

Why leagues tolerate it

• Self‑policing and deterrence: Many in hockey see fighting as a “thermostat” or safety valve that keeps other kinds of dangerous cheap shots in check. The idea is that if you throw a dirty hit, you know you might have to answer for it in a fight, which supposedly discourages worse stick work or head shots.

• Protecting star players: Enforcers or tough players sometimes fight to send a message that opponents cannot freely target their team’s skilled players or goalie without consequences.

Culture, tradition, and entertainment

• Fighting has been formally regulated in pro hockey since the 1920s, and over decades it became woven into the sport’s culture, especially in North America, with “the Code” as an unwritten set of rules about when a fight is considered acceptable.

• Many fans still view a fight as a momentum changer and a crowd‑pleasing moment, and leagues know that a segment of the audience expects that toughness and occasional “tilts” are part of the show.

Why referees let them go

• Officials are instructed to recognize when two players have mutually agreed to fight and then intervene mainly to keep it from getting truly dangerous: they step in when a player goes down, loses balance, or the fight drags on.

• This approach is meant to keep the confrontation “contained” between two players with gloves off, rather than letting frustration explode later in the form of dangerous stick swings or hits from behind.

Ongoing controversy and change

• Critics argue that repeated head impacts from fighting contribute to concussions and long‑term brain issues, and youth/amateur leagues are much stricter, often ejecting players for fighting.

• Even in the NHL, pure enforcers are less common than they were 20–30 years ago, and overall fight numbers have dropped, suggesting the sport is slowly moving away from routine fights even if they are still officially tolerated.

Bottom line: in hockey, fighting sits in a weird middle ground—penalized but not banned—because of long‑standing culture, the belief in self‑policing, and its role as a “pressure valve,” even as safety concerns push the game toward less tolerance for it.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.