Fist fighting and increased mortality post-retirement among National Hockey League players

Fist fighting among hockey players is thought to have long-term impacts on health. Because of methodological concerns of previous studies, we undertook a retrospective cohort study among retired National Hockey League (NHL) players to estimate rates of all-cause mortality according to the cumulative number of fights in their careers.

The cohort comprised male hockey players, excluding goaltenders, who played in the NHL from 1967 to 2022. We compiled their birth and death data, body mass index at entry, and other characteristics of playing. We used the proportional hazards model, with age at retirement as the time axis, to estimate mortality rates through July 31, 2024, in relation to the total number of fights in the NHL. Hazard ratios (HR) were adjusted for body mass index and year starting in the NHL. Mean survival after retirement by fighting status was also computed.

Among the 5411 retired players, 407 had died, 2082 (38.5%) never fought, and 759 (14.0%) fought ≥ 30 times. We found a positive linear response between the total number of fights and the risk of mortality: the adjusted HR per 10 fights was 1.04 (95% CI, 1.01, 1.07). Using this estimate, compared to non-fighters, the HR for five fights was 1.02 (95% CI, 1.00, 1.03), and for 50 fights it was 1.20 (95% CI, 1.02, 1.41). The mean loss of survival among those who fought ≥ 10 times compared with ≤ 1 time was 2.5, 2.1, and 1.5 years for those who started playing in 1970, 1980, and 1992, respectively.

Our findings suggest that fighting in NHL games increases rates of mortality post-retirement, but that these impacts are substantially less than reported previously. We recommend that the NHL establish standardized methods for collecting fight data to more accurately capture the lifetime fighting history and its associated health impacts for its players.