A Dirty Game: Trusting the National Hockey League to Play Judge, Jury, and Executioner

Jennifer A. Wood, California Western School of Law

Abstract

Recent events in the National Hockey League have brought about a concern for how the sport’s front office handles issues needing discipline. The majority of these issues revolve around incidents that have affected players and their ability to play hockey to the best of their skill. These incidents have sidelined several prominent hockey players and have sparked debate among hockey experts, commentators, general managers, players, owners, and fans.

The problem is the inconsistent and sometimes lack of supplemental discipline by the self-policed league. This lack of discipline allows players to continue playing in extremely dangerous ways, putting their own health and the health of their fellow players at risk. The main focus was to find out what could be causing the inconsistencies.

In examining this problem, the wording of the Official Rulebook was looked at and analyzed. That was coupled with looking two prominent criminal cases regarding on-ice. Interviews with players after near brawls on the ice were taken into account. The unofficial unwritten rulebook – known as the “code” or “custom” in the sport – was examined greatly.

The conclusion was that the wording of the Official Rulebook needed to change greatly in order to properly and effectively discipline players for behavior that was beyond the scope of the game. The broadly stated rules are too ambiguous to be enforced to maximum effectiveness.

The hope is that the League will look at the wording of the Rulebook with a regard for the custom of the sport. In doing so, the League should find a way to protect their players without losing what is so exciting about the sport. The only way to do this is by properly wording the rules so that all involved – players, referees, general managers, coaches, and the League’s disciplinarian – are on the same page. This lack of ambiguity will hopefully put an end to unnecessary violence in the sport and help prevent a devastating injury.