TITLE:
An Analysis of Fights in the National Hockey League
AUTHORS:
Henry L. Castillo, Paul M. Sommers
KEYWORDS:
National Hockey League, Violence in Sports, t-Tests Involving Proportions
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Statistics,
Vol.7 No.4,
August
18,
2017
ABSTRACT: The authors use data from fight logs during the
2016-2017 regular National Hockey League (NHL) season to test for a difference
in the proportion of games with and without fights for each of the thirty NHL
teams. Only one team (Toronto Maple Leafs) was more likely to be involved in a
fight at a home game than at an away game. Teams that fought proportionally
more often in the second half of the season made the playoffs; teams that
fought significantly less often did not. And, long distance air travel (flights
involving more than 1000 miles or trips that required crossing at least one
time zone) resulted in disproportionately more games with fights for eight
different NHL teams.