April 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nIt was a clean hit, Blackwell ramming his right shoulder directly into Trenin\u2019s left shoulder, but it left Trenin face down on the ice for several seconds. He eventually got up and left the game and didn\u2019t return. Marcus Foligno, one of Minnesota\u2019s veteran enforcers, skated over to Blackwell and got in his face after the hit. But Foligno didn\u2019t drop his gloves. It was a 1-1 game in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the Wild are trying to get out of the first round for the first time in more than a decade. It simply wasn\u2019t the time to risk an instigator penalty.<\/p>\n
Especially for a clean hit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey want it,\u201d Foligno said after the game. \u201cThey\u2019re looking to play five-on-four. That\u2019s their game. They can\u2019t hang with us five-on-five. \u2026\u00a0I\u2019m trying to be smarter out there. And if I go after Blackwell, it\u2019s putting their team on the power play. You can argue with the hit. It\u2019s clean. I mean, I think it is. And it\u2019s unfortunate (Trenin) gets caught there in a vulnerable position. But there are a lot of emotions in this game. I thought we did a really good job controlling it.\u201d<\/p>\n
So who was right? Trenin for going after Murphy? Or Foligno for not going after Blackwell?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a debate that\u2019s been percolating in the league for years now. Back when fighting was more prevalent, it never seemed odd for a donnybrook to break out. Just look at a guy the wrong way and the gloves were flying off. But now that fighting has become less common, there\u2019s more scrutiny on the fights that do happen.<\/p>\n
Ask just about anyone in the hockey world, from front offices to locker rooms to the arena stands, and they\u2019ll tell you they love the physicality of the NHL and want more good, clean hits in the game. So why are players so often punished \u2014 forced into a bare-knuckle brawl and an inevitable five-minute penalty \u2014\u00a0for doing just that?<\/p>\n
Perhaps big hits are so rare now that they all seem dirty on first glance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere used to be more hits back in the day, and it was more normal,\u201d Montreal Canadiens center Phillip Danault said. \u201cNow there\u2019s a big hit, and it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, f\u2014. We\u2019ve gotta fight him.\u2019 You had more hits then, and more dirty hits, and the refs thought it was all OK. Now when you see a big hit like that, you\u2019re almost surprised. So you just react.\u201d<\/p>\n
It can also be exceedingly difficult for a player to discern whether a hit was actually clean. It\u2019s hard enough for the referees, who have their heads up and are constantly scanning the ice looking for just such a play. Players are focused on their own game, their own positioning, the opposing player they\u2019re responsible for checking. So if you see a guy go down out of the corner of your eye or hear a monster collision behind you or spot a teammate laid out on the ice, the first response is to find the guy who did it and, at the very least, get in his face.<\/p>\n
In the same Nov. 26 Blackhawks-Wild game in which Murphy fought Trenin, physical fourth-liner Colton Dach laid a hit on Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota\u2019s 5-foot-9 captain. It was a pretty mild hit, happening in the same corner in which Murphy caught Eriksson Ek, but not nearly as violent. Minnesota\u2019s Jake Middleton didn\u2019t see the hit \u2014 he was skating away, several feet up the ice. But he heard it, peeked over his right shoulder and saw Spurgeon on the ice. Middleton all but chased Dach to the blue line on the far side of the ice before Dach finally obliged him with a fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiddleton thought I took a harder hit at Spurgeon than I really did,\u201d Dach said. \u201cHe turned around and asked me if I was going to fight. That\u2019s the first one where I hit someone and someone\u2019s asked me to fight after a clean hit.\u201d<\/p>\n
A player\u2019s instinct is always to defend a teammate. It\u2019s part of the brotherhood of being part of a team, and it certainly wins brownie points with teammates and coaches and many fans. Whether a hit was clean is almost immaterial.<\/p>\n
Especially if the hit comes at the expense of a skill player.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re going to lay out somebody\u2019s star player, you\u2019re going to have to answer,\u201d said San Jose Sharks forward Ryan Reaves, one of the league\u2019s most prolific fighters. \u201cThat\u2019s just the sport, right? You protect your own. Whether the guy\u2019s willing to answer or not, that\u2019s to be determined. But that\u2019s the way the sport\u2019s evolved. You protect your guys, especially your star players, and then you can move on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foligno\u2019s decision not to go after Blackwell stemmed from the NHL\u2019s instigator rule, which was added to the rule book in 1992. Most routine fights end in a wash, both teams losing a player for five minutes, with play continuing at five-on-five. But the risk of an extra minor penalty for instigating is a deterrent \u2014\u00a0especially when the games really matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime you blow a guy up, there\u2019s always somebody looking to have his teammate\u2019s back,\u201d New York Islanders veteran Casey Cizikas said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that has ever changed. But it\u2019s different now with the rules that they\u2019ve placed, where if a guy lays a big hit and it\u2019s clean and he\u2019s forced to fight right away, it\u2019s a penalty for the other team. It can be tough to make a snap decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, the instigator isn\u2019t called nearly as often as it should be by the letter of the law. Can it be truly effective in eliminating these unnecessary and unwarranted fights if officials are reluctant to hand it out?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a tough one,\u201d Cizikas said. \u201cDepending on who the (instigator) is, they might look at it and think he knows his role, he knows what he\u2019s doing. That\u2019s a gray area. The refs know everybody, and they know exactly what type of player each guy is. But at the same time, if somebody wants to stick up for his teammate, I say go for it. That\u2019s what I love about hockey, that part of it, where you have your teammate\u2019s back. Hits are going to happen, but you have to understand that someone\u2019s probably going to come up to you and give you a tap and let you know, \u2018Hey, that\u2019s our star guy and we\u2019re going to have his back.\u2019 That\u2019s the way the sport is, and that\u2019s why people love it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For some players, any excuse to keep fighting in the game is a worthy one. In previous eras, there might have been several staged fights in a game, with players planning them at center ice during warmups or before faceoffs. Something to fire up the boys, wake up a sleepy crowd. That hardly happens anymore, making bouts like the one between Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk and Carolina Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal at the opening faceoff of their first-round series so surprising and rousing.<\/p>\n
A player probably shouldn\u2019t have to be goaded into a fight for playing clean, hard hockey, but at least the spur-of-the-moment fights feel a little more real, a little more honest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s way less fights now,\u201d longtime Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. \u201cI miss watching them. I don\u2019t miss being in them, but I do miss watching them. So maybe it\u2019s a way to keep fighting in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even Murphy, in the same conversation in which he lamented having to fight after a clean hit, conceded the fact.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to say it needs to change,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just the way it is. I guess it brings out some more fighting, which fans want to see. If anything, anytime something can continue to keep fighting in the game, I think it\u2019s a bonus for the people watching.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the modern-day NHL, where players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever and big hits aren\u2019t nearly as common as they used to be, every open-ice hit can feel seismic. And in the heat of the moment, they all look dirty. They all sound dirty. And when it\u2019s your teammate lying face down on the ice, they certainly feel dirty. So players, roiling with adrenaline and full of piss, vinegar and vitriol, respond in the only way they know how, the way hockey players always have. They fight. Or threaten to, at least.<\/p>\n
No, Blackwell did nothing wrong on Monday night. But it was a big, loud hit that injured a Wild player. Foligno was probably wise not to call out Blackwell. But had he done so, very few people in the NHL would have blamed him. That\u2019s just hockey.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re allowed to hit, for sure,\u201d Reaves said. \u201cBut you\u2019re also allowed to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n