The Impact of the Instigator Rule on Fighting in the National Hockey League

Table 1

Fighting and penalty data comparing the Modern Era and the Expansion Era.

Fights/gm			Total penalty (minutes/gm)			Net penalty (mins/gm)
Mean	SD	value	Mean	SD	value	Mean	SD	value
Stanley Cup champions	2005–2019	0.36	0.24	0.24	11.01	2.90	0.002	0.17	0.36	0.002
	1967–1980	0.45	0.21		14.50	3.75		−0.41	0.77
Conference champions	2005–2019	0.38	0.23	0.10	11.24	2.75	<0.0001	0.13	0.36	0.002
	1967–1980	0.47	0.21		15.18	3.67		−0.38	0.78
Playoff teams	2005–2019	0.40	0.20	<0.0001	11.18	2.61	<0.0001	0.02	0.37	<0.0001
	1967–1980	0.51	0.23		14.40	4.11		−0.03	0.68
Nonplayoff teams	2005–2019	0.42	0.19	<0.0001	12.06	3.06	<0.0001	−0.04	0.47	0.02