Anyone who visits an ice hockey game for the first time often has two questions afterwards.

One of them: How do you manage not to lose sight of the small, black puck that is being shot over the ice at insane speed for the entire sixty minutes of playing time?

That is easy to answer: With a little practice and the right feeling for the respective game situation, it will become easier over time.

Because the processes are similar and at some point you have roughly understood how the game works and where the puck is usually played.

David Lindenfeld

Volunteer.

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The second question, however, which is often asked, is not so easy to answer: Why do ice hockey players fight each other more often during the game?

And why is this not prevented and forbidden by the referees and those responsible who organize the game in the leagues?

After all, apart from martial arts, you cannot fight yourself in any other sport without being severely punished for it.

And isn't that dangerous for the health of the players?

In the German Ice Hockey League, the first day of the new season is on this weekend. In the rules there are extra ones for fistfights, in which players often hit each other in the face without gloves. If you take part in a fight, you have to get off the ice for a few minutes. The game continues for so long without the players involved. If the brawl doesn't stop, the players have to go to the dressing room for the remainder of the game and are banned for the next game. Those who take part in brawls more often, the penalties are tougher. Overall, however, they have been changed for the coming season - and even made a little less strict.

They are now similar to those in the North American professional league NHL, where the players fight much more often than here in Germany. First of all, it can be said that what would result in long bans in football, handball, basketball or tennis does not seem to be a big deal in ice hockey.

Is that because things are generally a bit rougher on the ice than in other sports? Many of the actions that are allowed in ice hockey would be fouls in other sports. For example, you can push your opponent into the gang or drive around with a so-called body check if you come from the front or the side. Physical toughness has been part of the game since the beginning in the 19th century. Just like the brawls. It is no longer possible to clarify exactly why this is so. It may well be that in the beginning there were simply too few set rules when the game became increasingly popular among poor people in Canada - especially among soldiers, who were probably lower inhibitions about the use of violence then than they are now. Another explanation would be that the brawls arose in order to hold other players accountable,if they committed a foul that was not sanctioned by the referees.

A specialist in beating

Even today, the players usually beat each other when there was a previous foul or when the other team presses the goalkeeper after he has saved a shot. Yet another explanation assumes that the many fights are related to the introduction of the blue lines on the field. They divide the ice into three thirds and are important for the offside regulation. Since its inception, many more players have been in the middle of the ice to avoid being sidelined. This leads to more duels and thus to more arguments between the players and ultimately to more fights. It's probably a mixture of all three ideas that explains why hockey fights have become part of the game.By the way, you can not only observe them in men's ice hockey. These fights also occur among women.