Majority of British Columbians support getting rid of punches to the face in professional hockey

Most British Columbians think hockey would be better off if players couldn’t fight or throw punches to the head, according to a recent poll. A poll conducted by Research Co. surveyed people across Canada to see if hockey would be better off without fighting. British Columbians thought hockey would be better off without fighting more than residents in any other part of the country. When asked if hockey would be better off without head shots, 72 per cent of British Columbians agreed, and 48 per cent said the same about fighting in general. In terms of British Columbians actually supporting a ban on fighting and headshots, 80 per cent either strongly or moderately supported banning headshots, and 58 per cent supported banning fighting. Some British Columbians think a ban would have little impact on the sport; 22 per cent said banning fighting would not make hockey any better or worse, and 18 per cent said the same about head shots. READ MORE: Five Alberta hockey teams joining the BC Hockey League https://infotel.ca/newsitem/five-alberta-hockey-teams-joining-the-bc-hockey-league/it102979 Roughly half of hockey fans in BC said they would likely watch the same number of games and buy the same amount of hockey related products following violent incidents in the sport. Men and women supported banning headshots evenly, 53 per cent of both demographics agreed hockey would be better off without punches to the face. The split between the sexes increased when those asked about banning fighting in general; 39 per cent of women support banning fighting, while 29 per cent of men agreed.  Political affiliations also affected whether respondents supported banning fighting and head shots. Liberals were more likely to agree that hockey would be better off without head shots than Conservatives; 58 per cent of Liberals and 40 per cent of Conservatives supported banning fighting. To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas mailto:jtomas@infonews.ca  or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .