The end zones on N.A. rinks are deeper than European rinks and thus negate the width difference.
While on-ice fighting has been severely curtailed with appropriate penalties handed out, it is still a necessary part of the game.
Anyone who cringes at the thought of the dropping of the gloves should switch their attention to figure skating.........
The international ice is 200 feet long and 98 feet wide. Goal lines are 13 feet from the end boards.
On an NHL rink, the blue line is 64 feet from the goal line and the two blue lines are 50 feet apart. In international hockey, the blue line is 58 feet from the goal line and the two blue lines are 58 feet apart. The Olympic game is much more wide-open -- not just because of the wider rink but because of the larger neutral zone.
Why is fighting a "necessary" part of the game? I attended eight NCAA Division I hockey games this season, and I did not see a single fight, and yet the game was fast, brutal, and entertaining. The NFL and NCAA Division I football are violent and brutal and yet, they have somehow survived even though fighting is rare and dealt with swiftly by the officiating crew, and they enjoy a fan base that the NHL can only dream about. I played rugby for 8 years, and I can't recall a single fight in the dozens of matches that I played in. And while fights break out in Major League baseball, they are relatively rare given the number of teams and games in a season, and unlike hockey refs, who stand around watching the fight for a minute or two before breaking it up, MLB has a zero tolerance policy that results in heavy fines and suspensions for even the slightest altercation.