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NHL Divers Risk Very Little

Oxonomics is a terrific blog written by a group of Oxford graduate students.  A recent posting, Why do footballers dive?, discusses the tendency of soccer players to dive in an effort to draw fouls.  The author asks "Why do footballers dive more than other sportsmen?"

The author's answer is that the risks associated with diving in soccer are far outweighed by the potential rewards.  The risk - a yellow card and "opprobrium from neutrals and the media" are modest.  The reward - a free kick or a penalty shot if the "foul" occurs in the 18-yard box - are magnified by soccer's low scores.  Faced with this risk-reward ratio, many soccer players opt to take the fall. 

The NHL attempted to deal with the diving problem in hockey in 2006 by making it a penalty.  In addition to a two-minute minor, players caught diving receive a letter from the league (Oooh Scary!).  Second offenders receive the penalty and a $1,000 fine while three-timers are hit with a whopping $2,000 fine.  With an average salary is $1.9 million, does the league really expect such piddling fines to alter behaviour?  Player can also receive supplementary discipline.

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