Are Hockey Fights Allowed at the Olympics? The Rules Are Much Stricter Than the NHL
Tom Wilson dropped the gloves at the Olympics.
In the NHL, that’s a Tuesday night. On the Olympic stage, it triggered ejections, a tournament suspension, and a crash course in IIHF rules for every hockey fan refreshing their feeds on Feb. 15.
Canada was dismantling France 10-2 when Wilson and French defenseman Pierre Crinon got into it during the third period. What followed was a collision between NHL culture and international hockey’s zero-tolerance approach to fighting — and Wilson’s teammates loved every second of it.
The Hockey Fight Heard Around the World
During the blowout’s third period, France’s Pierre Crinon laid a hit on Nathan MacKinnon. Crinon received a minor penalty, and Canada scored just 25 seconds into the ensuing power play, per ESPN.
Minutes later, Wilson and Crinon were jawing near France’s net. Wilson dropped his gloves. Crinon followed before bringing Wilson to the ground.
Here’s where the Olympic experience diverges from anything you’d see in the NHL. There was no circle of refs watching from the perimeter. No letting the boys sort it out. Instead, Olympic officials moved to break it up immediately.
In international hockey, the whistle comes the moment fists fly.
Both players received a two-minute penalty for roughing and a 25-minute penalty for fighting. Both were ejected.
Crinon then made things worse. He provoked Canadian fans in the stands on his way off the ice — a decision with consequences that extended well beyond the penalty box.
The fallout continued on Feb. 16 when France suspended Crinon for the rest of the Olympics.
The team wrote in a statement: “Pierre Crinon’s provocative behavior when he came out of the ice, even though he had just been excluded from the match for a fight, is a clear violation of the Olympic spirit and also undermines the values of our sport.
“A decision was therefore made, in full alignment with the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, not to authorize his participation for the next meeting(s) of the Olympic tournament,” the team added.
A Rare Olympic Gordie Howe Hat Trick
Wilson finished the game with a goal, an assist, and a fight. A Gordie Howe hat trick.
That stat line is already rare in any NHL game. Pulling it off on the Olympic stage, where fighting almost never happens and carries ejection-level consequences, puts this in its own category.
For NHL fans, the Gordie Howe hat trick holds a special place in the sport’s culture — the ultimate power-forward stat line. Wilson earning one in an international tournament where fighting is explicitly excluded from the game’s DNA is something you’re unlikely to see again anytime soon.
IIHF and NHL Rulebooks Are Vastly Different
Men’s hockey at the Olympics follows International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) rules, and the gap between the IIHF and NHL approaches to fighting is enormous.
IIHF Rule 46 states: “Fighting is not part of international ice hockey’s DNA. Players who willingly participate in a brawl or fight, so-called willing combatants, shall be penalized accordingly by the referee and may be ejected from the game. Further Supplementary Discipline may be imposed.”
The IIHF doesn’t just penalize fighting. It frames fighting as fundamentally incompatible with the international game.
Under IIHF rules, attempting to continue a fight after being ordered to stop will “incur at least a major penalty plus an automatic game misconduct penalty in addition to any additional penalties imposed.”
Per Rule 20, major penalties are worth 5 minutes. An automatic game misconduct results in ejection.
The NHL rule book takes the opposite approach. Players can finish a fight before being assessed a major penalty worth 5 minutes. You take your five, you sit, you come back.
No ejection for a standard fight. No 25-minute fighting penalty. The league treats it as a penalized but accepted part of the game.
So in the NHL, Wilson and Crinon’s exchange ends with matching five-minute majors and both guys return to the ice. At the Olympics, it’s a two-minute roughing minor, a 25-minute fighting penalty, and both are done for the night.
In Crinon’s case, done for the tournament — though that was France’s decision, not the IIHF’s.
It should be noted that Wilson plays in the NHL. Crinon plays in Ligue Magnus, the top men’s hockey division in France, which operates under IIHF rules.
Canada’s Locker Room Had Wilson’s Back
After the game, Canada’s biggest names didn’t hedge.
MacKinnon, who took the initial hit from Crinon, praised his teammate for stepping up.
“That guy obviously didn’t want to fight Tom. He just wanted to wrestle. I wouldn’t want to fight Tom either,” MacKinnon said, per ESPN.
Canadian coach Jon Cooper offered a measured take that acknowledged the different context of Olympic play while defending his player.
“We’re used to a lot more than that happening, so it was pretty harmless in the grand scheme of things,” Cooper said. “Sticking up for his teammates, that’s an easy one for him.”
Connor McDavid, Canada’s leading goal scorer, gave the most detailed defense of Wilson’s actions.
“We didn’t like the hit, felt like it was late and high,” McDavid said. “Willy just finishes a check and the guy jumps him, and Willy’s just protecting himself. That’s all he can do. That’s the type of guy he is, type of teammate he is. Nothing but respect for him.”
France’s Goalie Called the Suspension a ‘Joke’
On the French side, players were furious — not at Wilson, but at their own federation.
France’s goalie, Antoine Keller, described his teammate’s suspension as a “joke.”
“We are a big family: When we come together, we come as brothers, and we just got rid of one of our brothers, so it’s a joke from the French Committee Olympic,” Keller said on Feb. 17, per the Associated Press.
“We need this player. We needed him today, and they just take it from us for something that just, like, happens every week in any hockey game, so I think that’s a joke,” he added.
Keller’s comment about it happening “every week in any hockey game” highlights the massive cultural gap between NHL hockey and international play.
In the NHL, Wilson’s actions barely make the post-game highlights. At the Olympics, it’s a tournament-defining controversy and a player loses his roster spot.
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists.