Ice hockey may have a reputation for fights breaking out in the US and Canada’s National Hockey League (NHL), but that behaviour is prohibited in international games.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) state in their rulebook that fighting is “not part of international ice hockey’s DNA”.

This includes Winter Olympic ice hockey games.

Players who do get involved in fights could face penalties or be ejected from the game.

When suspensions are issued, they can be carried over from one IIHF event to another.

For instance, should a player be suspended in the gold medal match at the Winter Olympics, it would carry over to the next IIHF tournament.

However, fighting in the NHL is a regular aspect of the matches, for which both sides can be given a far less harsh punishment of up to a five-minute penalty for individual players.

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, there are 12 men’s teams and 10 women’s. Great Britain failed to qualify for the Games with either team.

But for the first time since 2014, we will see NHL players from the United States and Canada in action at an Olympics.