Players Still Dropping Gloves, but Picking Their Battles, in Ontario Junior League

Excerpt from: New York Times (click for full article)

 

Ty Bilcke of the Windsor Spitfires had more fights last season than any other player in the Ontario Hockey League. “My goal is to get 30-plus fights, and I will,” Bilcke said halfway through the schedule, and he wound up with 37, 14 more than the nearest challenger.

This season, the situation is different for Bilcke, the Spitfires and the O.H.L. because of a new rule aimed at limiting, but not eliminating, fighting. Known as the 10-fight rule, the regulation seems to be working so far.

Fights are down from 0.92 a game last season to 0.71 through Saturday, a reduction of about 20 percent. Although Bilcke is still the Spitfires’ heavyweight and shared the league lead with six fights, he was on pace to finish with 18, about half of his total last season. “I like it,” Bilcke said of the change. “Our league’s definitely better because of it.”