Aggression in professional ice hockey: a strategy for success or a reaction to failure?

Results of previous examinations of aggression-performance relationships in sport may have been spurious since they have been based on entire games and seasons. The present paper argues that the injury or intimidation caused by aggression would be most likely to have a positive effect on performance if it occurred early in a contest or season. This early aggression might be offset by aggression later in the game or season committed by frustrated and/or revenge-seeking teams that were losing. Aggression-performance relationships for 32 professional hockey teams were examined at various times during 1176 games over four seasons. The correlation between aggression and performance was nonsignificant regardless of the segment of the season. A significant positive relationship (r = .48) was found between aggression committed in the first period and overall performance. It was concluded that, provided it takes place early in a contest, aggression is an effective strategy for success in ice hockey. The evidence implied but did not statistically support the conclusion that aggression is also employed by hockey teams as a reaction to failure.