Brits React to THE CODE - Unwritten Rules of Fighting in Ice Hockey 

Him accidentally calling Marchand a rat is hilarious

Simple Canadian rules to fighting, defend those who are unable to defend themselves, and always punch over your weight.

Them referring to the "pests" as rats as Marchand popped up is pure poetry (I'm a Bruins fan)

the guy banging on the glass is loving the fact HIS team is standing up for itself and not allowing the other team to take advantage or make cheap shots.

People always say Canadians are so polite and mild mannered. If you manage to piss us off though you better run.

There’s a lot of reasons why hockey is the best sport but this is the biggest reason of them all! It all comes down to accountability!!! Hockey players will fight each other bare knuckle and then say good job and go for a beer after the game.

Canadian box lacrosse also allows fighting. Lacrosse and hockey are Canada's two national sports.

No one ever left their seat to buy food when there was a fight on the ice!

In Canada, fighting in hockey becomes legal at age 16. It is strictly prohibited below that age with long-term suspensions handed out to those who do fight. Awesome reaction on this topic. Thank you

Sidney Crosby is actually a talented hockey player. He never got into a fight in his first 3 seasons. The enforcers guarded him while Sid scored goals. Once he did start fighting, he threw hands like a champ.

You asked a good question Fats about the banging on the glass. This should actually be added to the code. If the team needs the crowd more in the game, or a change in atmosphere, they can start a fight to get everyone excited. Any player is likely to fight at this point, especially the ones who fight the least.

More NHL stuff please. It is good times to watch people discover how crazy this sport is.

When seeing it live, as a fan your own adrenaline gets pumped. That’s why the dude is going crazy on the glass.

I grew up in Detroit so I’m a die hard Detroit red wings fan. One legendary player was Gordie Howe, who played well into his 50’s against kids more than half his age. This was back in the day before you had a dedicated class of enforcers and all players were pretty much brawlers. His normal actions during a game coined the term the “Gordie Howe hat trick” which consists of scoring a goal, getting an assist as well and getting into a fight in a single game. A normal hat trick is a player scoring three goals in a game. It doesn’t happen too often but if a player gets a Gordie Howe hat trick the announcers always bring it up and in Detroit even the Jumbotron display will “award” the Gordie Howe hat trick to the player.

I'm glad you watched the code. You are correct it's about respect

You can tell the influence. It’s basically medieval combat rules 😂. Hello sir, you have hit my buddy, let’s get on with it. Let’s go. Oh running away are you? Hey you, fight me honorably in his stead come on now. 😂. Send me your warrior!😂😂😂. The clan mentality.

Hilarious you called them "Rats" as Marchand was basically being highlighted....... people actually throw rubber rats on the ice at him hahahahaha

You’ve got to watch “Stu Grimson goes crazy” if you want to see The Code being enforced.

There is a full time dentist on staff in building for every pro team to repair teeth which often get knocked out during play and fighting.

I went to a drive-by-shooting last week and a basketball game broke out.

They used to only have one ref and 2 linesman. Referees are above the fray it's the linesman who break up the fights and they have the biggest arms in the NHL

So funny you called the pests "Rats' as the player they were focusing on was Brad Marchand, who's nickname literally is "The Rat" LMFAO!!

Ohhhhhhh yes you two read the comments!!! That's awesome me and a few others mentioned "the code" to you. It's not just blind fighting as you now know. Winning a fight can change the entire momentum of a hockey game! Good job with the videos you guys!!!! 🇨🇦

I started playing hockey at 6 years old(the pics are adorable lol), but the code was taught to me by my dad, and other coaches around age 10, even tho there were no fights during games until until 9th grade(15 years old)

There are a lot of great comments about fighting and the code in here. I never played pro or anything, but I’ve played for longer than I’d like to admit. The Code isn’t just an NHL or pro thing. Even in leagues where fights are automatic suspension or expulsion from the league, you occasionally find a transgressor that just needs retribution. It’s about defending ppl you care about and o dare say love if you’ve been with the same team for a while. Most of the “staged” fighting between enforcers is out of the game due to the increase in skill level throughout rosters, but the passion and raw emotion still exists. That’s why the fights exist. If the league ever banned fighting completely, the increase in stick fouls would go through the roof. If a guy wants to be slashy slashy on your top players wrists, I few jabs to the jaw tends to remind him of why it’s a bad idea.

The role of “goon” has more or less been phased out. There are a couple guys like Rempe and Reaves left, but a lot more now you will see star players standing up for themselves like Mackinnon or B. Tkachuk

Y'all should watch the movie Goon. It's about the beloved players in hockey that are the fighters, aka the enforcers, aka the goons.

I went to a fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out. Rodney Dangerfield

If you want to see a star that wasn’t afraid to fight, watch wendell Clark’s fight’s that’s started from his big hits !!!!

The craziest part, the guy in your thumbnail in the red sweater, George Parros, is the current President of the Department of Player Safety. Lmao. I'm Canadian, and even I think hockey is crazy.

Crosby has been a pure goal scorer since he could walk. Came into the league so young, always been a target and has had to stand up for himself. Like a honey badger lol

Penalties are 2 minutes most of the time. If there is a double minor such as high sticking that causes bleeding, it is 4 minutes. Fighting is a 5 minute major penalty and a game misconduct is 5 and the game.

As a former hockey player, I love seeing people understand the game and the code. I believe hockey is the best sport, when it comes to skill, and respect. I also love seeing family members watch a game live, and get pumped up, with the speed, accuracy, and pure intensity.

I may be incorrect but I believe around 2013 the hockey board of governors passed a rule stating the removal of helmets to fight is against the rules and additional minutes in the 'sin bin' will be given. --- One reason some fans get so excited by a fight is often times a team will be flat, they won't be playing well and someone on their team starts a fight, wails on the other player and that gets the team's blood pumping, it gets them into the game. I have seen many games turned around and what looked like a certain loss turned into a win all because someone dropped their gloves to get their fellow teammates more excited and more into the game.

You guys should check out a documentary called Ice Guardians! It’s about NHL enforcers, the psychology of why they fight and why we love it, and how much they are loved by their teammates. Even growing up playing lower level junior and senior hockey like I have, the tough guys on your team are often the most respectful and selfless. Glad you’re covering hockey videos, come visit North America and check out an NHL game I guarantee you’ll love it!

As a Canadian and a hockey fan I can tell you the Code is learned young.. playground young. Goalies don't fight others players because they with all the padding their mobility is limited so it's not a fair fight.

I don't watch hockey anymore, used to watch a lot as a kid. Yet, hockey players are tuff SOB's! They play through some nasty injuries! Most old school athletes left...no prima Donnas in that sport at all!

Here in Canada, I started playing hockey at age 5 ... I learned about the "code" very early on. If you do something wrong, expect to have a target on your head ... someone will come for you ...

This is 100% accurate. You’re welcome, Canada.

I apologize for the length of this comment, please feel free to skip if you don’t like to read too much. Thanks for reviewing this video about our game. There are many things I take issue with in the content however, as a player of 40 yrs, and a life long fan, and someone who is in the hockey community in Canada. Im not trying to talk myself up-I never played in the big show. Im just pre qualifying my opinion with something that might be useful to know. I wont go into every detail in the video. There’s a lot of truth in it, but I feel it doesn’t leave an inexperienced viewer with the right impression of why fighting exists in hockey. The more intimate with the game and the culture of Anglo & French Canada one becomes, the more one understands the nuances of why we must fight. First of all, just because we have manners, doesn’t mean that we are weak. Practice manners when its time to practice manners. Practice doing the man dance (as Sean Strickland says, lol) when its time for that. Be good at both. Because hockey is a contact sport, the notion of physical intimidation is unavoidable, as it is easy to see when one is playing youth hockey that the team that is frightened of the contact, gets beat on the scoreboard. And so we are taught to not be afraid, or at least not show it. We accomplish this by returning every intimidation tactic with one of your own. When you take a clean hit that knocks you down, you get your ass up as fast as you can, even if you are partially knocked unconscious and need to struggle off to the bench. We prefer not to lay around when were not really hurt, because this subverts the idea of acting as though we are not intimidated. The only time a player lays on the ice is when he literally cannot get up, injured in some way. Sometimes these need a whistle and help to get off the ice, and sometimes they manage to eventually shake it off themselves. But if at all possible, you get up as fast as you can, and show that you were not effected-even if you were. Sometimes not being intimidated looks like backing your team mates in a scrum, other times, they will target your star players, or else simply target a player that is a physical mismatch, or else they might throw a good clean hit on any of your players that gives them too much energy and momentum. You want to take that energy back by sticking up for your team mate, throwing a big hit of your own, or by fighting the culprit, or both. It is amazing how much momentum a team can garner by smashing a player into the boards, or by punching the s*it out of one of their guys. So many times Ive seen games in various leagues at various levels-even been in a few- where the game was won or lost on the end of a big fight won, or on the back of a well played intense game of physical dominance. So the fighting is not and end within itself, it has real effects on the scoreboard because of the momentum and energy it creates. You can hit anyone you want. But you can’t throw certain hits and not expect repercussions, and it is seen as a lose of honour to attempt to avoid the repercussions, as this points to your being intimidated, plus its just not the manly thing to do. If you don’t want to fight that’s fine, but then don't be that guy and try to play physical all the time. And if you do…your gonna get it. There are other things that will cause a fight, such as, taking a shot at the opposing goal after a whistle was blown. Taking a slap shot into an empty net, where one team has pulled their goalie to play an extra attacker in an effort to tie a game they’re loosing late in the game. If a player in such a case has the opportunity to score an empty net goal, it should be done with respect by lobbing it in, sliding it in, or otherwise taking the shot that is required to score. If one winds up and takes a slap shot into an empty net, it is a massive show of disrespect to a team that just threw everything at you and lost. And so a fight just be incurred. Also, if one is in a fight, and the referees have let it go on for a bit, and have now stepped in between, separating the combatants, sometimes there will be an opportunity to throw a last punch where the opponent is tied up by the referee. Usually no one will deign to throw such a punch, as there is too much respect. But in the extremely rare event this happens, the current fight will not be their last that evening, nor will he be likely to avoid further consequences in future games. This next part is key: it is far less important to win your fight than it is to simply give it your all, without backing down. You will get far more respect for trying hard in a loosing battle from all of the fans and players on both teams, than you would by avoiding it, in which case you would get none. If you avoid a fight that you should rightly be engaging in due to intimidation, even your own players will loose respect. They might not say it, but it does have a cancerous effect on the bench and in the locker room. Players like this often get cut long before ones NHL draft year. Conversely, there is quite a range of different sized players around. What’s to stop a big crappy player from one team, taking out the small good player from another with a low hit, for example. The crappy players team doesn’t care if they loose him to a penalty or even a suspension, where the other team sorely misses their good player. And so because of the possibility of this (and dont think its never happened, and don't think even a coach has not orchestrated such a thing)the regulatory penalization of such transgressions are not enough to actually stop it from happening. But being instantly accountable to the other teams tough guys goes a lot further to actually keep players safe from these tactics. Lastly, fighting-when ever it happens as the result of one player sticking up for a team mate-builds team morale, makes the players tighter, gets the fans going, and as a team sport, the tighter the group is in wanting to play not for themselves but for one another…usually the better they are. Think of this, your a highly skilled player who is 5’11’-185lbs, and you are targeted with a big hit from an opposition player who is 6’2”-220lbs. You take the hit, it knocks the wind out of you, and you get up and have to go to the bench to recover. And when your there, you look on the ice, and your line mate is now punching the s*it out of the guy who targeted you. Now, it might be difficult for you to return the favour if the roles were reversed because your line-mate is also 6’2”, and your not. Your not a fighter. So what do you do? You thank your line-mate for what he did for you. After all he sacrificed his physical body to stand up for you, and you really appreciate it. And now when your recovered, your going to return to the ice for your next shift with a full resolve to burn it up with your speed, skill, and make your side of the scoreboard go up. And you do this because its the only way you can prepay what your line-mate has done in your own honour. This is how when team mates play for one another, good things happen. And so in the end, fighting in hockey is bares some limited resemblance to fighting in prison, in that, it is used-not to stroke ones ego, and play the tough guy star character-but for the practical purpose of policing the respect level of your opponents, and to show your teammates that you have their back. Because its natural given the circumstances of the game that where respect is not policed through fighting, respect will not be given, and in such cases, things only get worse and worse. As it is in prison, so too in hockey. So transgressions must be met immediately with violence. It’s not for show. It has a serious and practical purpose. That doesn’t mean that in days past certain teams would not overload their roster with goons because their fans loved the fighting (see 70’s Philadelphia Flyers). But those days are long gone for the NHL, who has done much to better the product on ice since then. NHL hockey is the most exciting its been in my lifetime. All the players are faster, more creative, higher skilled than in past times. There are several skaters in the game who can move faster than Usain Bolt can run, which is insane even given the fact they are on skates, and he on the track. We are talking over 40kph in short bursts (See Connor McDavid, Mathew Barzal, Brayden Point, Val Nichushkin) The fighting is down, but it will never go away. It cannot go away without removing contact from the game, and I don’t see anyone wanting that. I didn't want to leave people thinking that Canadians were a bunch of Professional Wrestling fans, who just like the spectacle of fighting. It’s not like that at all, and this is an assessment that usually a non-Canadian would come to when they watch our brand of hockey at first glance. But hopefully I have given you something of a second glance. Again thanks for taking an interest in hockey!! Love your channel, and keep it goin’ eh, LOL

Fighting barely happens anymore. It’s not like the old days. Don’t get me wrong, there are still fights…but The game is more geared towards skill now compared to size and enforcers.

A minor penalty is the most common and is 2 minutes; a major penalty (which includes fighting) is 5 minutes; a misconduct is 10 minutes; and a game misconduct is being kicked out of the game regardless of time remaining. So for example if you jump another player who doesn't want to fight you would typically get 17 minutes of penalties - a 2 minute minor for instigating a fight, a 5 minute fighting major, and a 10 minute misconduct giving the other team a substantial power-play opportunity. But if 2 players agree to fight then they would both get 5 minute fighting majors which are called coincidental penalties and neither team would get a man advantage.

sweet vid you two...keep them coming!

Went to a Canucks game many years ago. Two players dropped their gloves at centre ice and slowly skated around each other, half way down the rink, to the corner to start the fight. The jumbotron video (centre scoreboard) showed it was obviously to put on a show for a couple of fine young lasses seated behind the glass.

I have been watching hockey since 1968, can't tell you how many fights I have seen, never heard anyone complain and or get up and leave when one broke out .Love you reaction and hope someday you get a chance to see an heated NHL game in person

U got my sub!! Watching your guys' excitement and watching the best, and i mean hands down the best sport in the world!! Hockey!! 🎉

Even in school back in the 70`s we also had a CODE--no biting,kicking, hair pulling,weapons,etc. As soon as an opponent gave up you had to let them up. I became friends with most of my opponents,as I had gained their respect and held no grudges. ( I am from Canada)

Hockey players are a different breed for sure ❤😂

Regular penalties are 2:00 and fighting penalties are 5:00.

Watch the movie “Slap Shot”. 70’s hockey (old time hockey)

Go to hockey, because you want to see a fight. Is the same as going to an automotive race because you want to see a crash. (Or downhill skiing, ski jumping, snowboarding, skateboarding)

Removing the helmet before a fight is an automatic suspension now, so that part of the code has gone by the wayside.

You don't really feel the pain until after the game most of the time. 😂

It’s a 1980’s take on the sport to say I went to a game to watch a fight. Today there’s less fights and way more skill. We’re there to support our teams, if theres a fight, bonus.

My dad never called it the code, but he always said the number 1 thing is to do whatever it takes to make sure you don't severely hurt someone. He said if I targeted someone id be walking home, he'd rather me fight, cause their is honour in fighting.

I love that Hockey allows fighting

It is human nature to be drawn to violence, especially when it is in a controlled setting. Football, rugby, hockey, mma, boxing, wrestling, etc are all sports with high levels of violence that millions of people pay their hard earned money to see live every year. In my opinion, deep down people just enjoy watching people battle. Also, alpha human beings want to impose their will and dominate competition at all costs. It has always been that way and will always be that way.

There’s more than just those rules too: A. Never put the puck in the net after a whistle. B. Never spray the goalie in the face with your skates. C. Never tap the goalies glove after he’s secured the puck and the whistle is blown. (All of these will induce a fight)

So disappointed there wasn't more Det/Colorado footage. It's epic hockey and some of these players needed hospitalization. Remember also, these men can be 6'6" and are 230 lbs of muscle on skates that make them 3" taller. Let's go Redwings!!!

Wish yall came to the states during hockey season. You really need to see a game in person

Being a huge hockey fan with sets next to the glass player level watching a hockey game and a fight is the only reason why I go to see a boxing match

Rat is perfect description of Marchand 😂 but I’d still love him on my team 😄

You might enjoy watching “best goals” or “best saves” in hockey. After watching hockey, every other sport is considered slower paced

As a Canadian its funny to watch these reactions. And I have to laugh at the irony that Canadians are known as friendly, peaceful people but our national sport is this.... And we cant get enough......

We love the fights, you get all caught up in the adrenaline of the players. Rule # 6 Ty Domi against Bob Probert, aaahahahahaha

When a player is answering Rule #15 (standing up for your teammate no matter what) you often get a huge mismatch. Some poor guy is obliged to fight a tough guy that is WAY out of his league. Often the tougher guy (who is being held to account for a cheap shot) will recognize this and go easy on the smaller guy. It's all about honour and respect.

Great video! I learned more about HOCKEY BRO CODE!

If you can find it, see the movie Goon. Gives a fictional picture of an enforcer and is surprisingly watchable. They even get the Canadian 'eh' correct a few times.

As a Canadian, playing hockey since 5yrs old, I can tell you the code really sucks sometimes. Once during a playoff College hockey game, we were losing 5-1 with only minutes left and we had no chance to come back. Then we had a face-off in our end of the rink, one of our players said to me, get ready cause I'm going to punch one of those guys in the face as soon as the puck drops. Well he did, he suckered punch one of their players who wasn't even near the puck. Then we were all squared off fighting someone, benches jumped on to fight too. Because of the Code we had to fight. But here's a little insider info. In the dressing room we gave our player who started it all a lot of verbal abuse, and we all wanted to beat the crap out of him because he made us all look like sore losers. But because of the code, we had to stand up for each other and have a scrap on the ice.

It has a lot to do with how fast the game is. Referees in the NHL are the best, but even they miss some calls or have biases against certain players. The code allows teams to even things up when its being called for one side.

Played from 8 to 25. Only 16 fights, only won 2 but my goons had 100's of fights and scuffles and a few donnybrooks. Its the best game on earth and the CODE is real!

Penalties are either minor or major. A minor penalty in 2 minutes, a major is 5, but you can receive a double minor or major, usually from doing something that is likely to cause injury, or if blood is drawn unprovoked

The "hockey fight code" is ingrained at a young age when playing hockey in Canada.

THIS IS HOWS BEEFS SHOULD ALWAYS BE HANDLED EVERYWHERE IN ANY SITUATION YOU FIGHT IT OUT💯

One thing no one has mentioned is theyre carrying "weapons"/hockey sticks - fighting was looked at as a better option then more ugly stick incidents like Wayne Maki & Ted Green. Also fighting can be used to swing momentum & get the crowd going

There is another rule, which eventually resulted in a written rule… “3rd man in” is a rule against 2on1 fights…

In case nobody has pointed this out, the clip at 4:02 shows a young player get his neck broken from the drop to the ice. He never played the game again and effectively ruined the career of the player who did the deed

Iginla was a star player who fought a lot and always removed the helmet.

Its mostly one on one fighting. Way more rare to see the benches clear. 2 min roughing, 5 min majors and 10 min misconducts. Then there are multiple game suspensions for players charged with more exreme penalties causing injuries. When a player gets a minor penalty, he goes to a penalty box for two minutes and the opposing team gets the power play (one man advantage) for the two minutes.

For the gladiators, though it was weapon fighting as a duel and entertainment, they rarely died, since the owners of the slaves needed able bodies, so they would teach them how to strike without killing, so they can sew them up and heal them, apparently only a handful of gladiators actually fought to the death, and kids used to have pictures of their favourite gladiators

"I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out" instead of the opposite.

Look up Marty McSorley Bob probert fight. You will see to Giants going at it

Watch: Tough Guy - The Bob Probert story. Tells the life and hockey career of an enforcer with good skills. One of a kind

Five minutes for fighting. Two minutes for minor penalties such as elbowing, tripping, holding etc.

And yeah, the rules are very debatable. Miami used to allow bushwhacking of code breakers

Some movies to help you understand hockey culture. Goon, slapshot, miracle on ice, mystery Alaska

Thanks for that video, it's was great to see the older time of hockey. Unfortunately there are not as many fights as there use to be now, but the code is still followed. If you want to see some ridiculous skill in hockey look up. Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Connor McDavid, Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky.

You need to watch videos of Colton Orr one of the best enforcer in hockey

A normal penalty is 2 minutes. A fighting penalty or a major penalty is 5 minutes. Additional misconduct time can be added for 10, 20 or the remaining game time if there's a serious issue, like repeated penalties or attempting to injur another player.

I know I'm 2 weeks late... But fighting has actually calmed down in the NHL lately....it still exists but not like in the 70s-90s....they used to have actual goons on the team to specifically just fight (goons) who are actually the nicest people off the ice....they were usually 4th liners seeing as there are 4 forward lines of 3 on a team...nowadays the 4th liners are much more skilled but still more physical than the top 6/9 guys....it's still the toughest sport on earth to play and I've played them all...ps being 5'6 180lbs I was a great pest 😂

I would recommend you watch a documentary called "The Last Gladiators." You will understand all this after you watch it.

I went to see a "Football" game, and a diving competition broke out

Respect behind the disrespect...its called being a man , its called being canadian . Dont mistake our kindness as a weakness. We are back to back world war mvps for a reason

5min for fighting, 2min for instigating. The Pest Brad Marchant is hated by the entire league.

Watch the brawl in hockey town!!!

"Pests" are the worst and most hated...unless of course they are on your team. Then you love them.

You must see Marty McSorely (L.A.) vs Bob Probert (Detroit) Feb. 4, 1994, long epic fight. Watch at the end and you'll understand the Code.

lol Actually, Fight Club reminds one of Ice Hockey, it's been around longer, I think about 90 or 100 years longer. :)

If you like this, you’re gonna LOVE a Netflix show called “Untold: Crimes and Penalties”. It’s got everything - a team of nothing but goons, Mafia owners, FBI raids, insane fans, and of course nonstop hockey fights from start to finish!😄

DC Caps fan. Pretty sure Craig Berube still has the record for the earliest fight. I had bet on it, against my mother, and won. Was -4 seconds, before the ref even got there for the opening faceoff. I think i had bet on 2 mins, and she said 5