The Truth About Fighting Stats
The NHL has told the media that fighting is down 42%. That figure is being used in a few articles (and circulated well when one’s a CP report).
The league even released more detailed numbers:
Through 264 NHL games this year, the league says there have been 227 major penalties. In 2003-04, there had been 393.
However, no one seemed to stop and think about what that actually means. Fighting stats are one of the easiest statistics to manipulate by the league and press. If you want to talk positively or negatively about a rise or drop and make it seem more than it is, simply use majors and call it “fighting”.
The deception is easy: it takes two to tango, at least usually. Two fighting majors generally equal one fight. There are times where only one player receives a major, but it’s not common. It’s happened 3 times this season, 16 during the 2003-04 season.
So when reading about percentages and averages, take the wording lightly. Look at what numbers are actually being used. If someone in the media wants to take a dig at the NHL about fighting, you’ll probably see something about the NHL averaging fight a game in the past few years when it’s actually a major per game (and obviously it’s averaging a fight every other game, and less than that this season). If there’s a decrease in the percentage of majors, well, it’s approximately half of that for actual fights.
One other thing to note: 2003-04 saw an increase in fighting compared to 2002-03. If you were to look at a chart of the past 10 seasons, fighting certainly has decreased, usually a little each season, and 2003-04 was a bit of a high bump in the road, a good season to compare this season to if you wanted to promote a decline this season.
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