Not to go Don Cherry on anyone, but for what it’s worth, fighting is a part of the game. Period.  Trying to take fighting out of the sport is as ridiculous as trying to take the F-word out.
As Gordie Howe once said,"Hockey players speak two languages, their native language and profanity.” Or something like that. And I think he had a few fights in his day.

Posted by Kate from Pa. on 08/08/08 at 04:26 PM ET

Ah, this is where I was going to post this link (I just put it over at Puck Daddy)

A thesis on violence in hockey as well as a way to reduce fighting via fines:
http://ideas.repec.org/p/rwi/repape/0047.html

I’ve never read the whole thing but it sounds interesting if only for the research put into it.

Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 08/08/08 at 05:58 PM ET

“We only speak two languages here, English and profanity.”
- Pittsburgh Penguins coach on the many languages of his team

From Shooting from the Lip (A fun book to read)
Shooting from the Lip at Amazon

Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 08/08/08 at 06:00 PM ET

“Trying to take fighting out of the sport is as ridiculous as trying to take the F-word out.”

Nice one, Kate. For some of us (errr… me) I think taking the F-word out would be like taking away oxygen.

Thanks for reminding me of that study, Shane. I posted it on KK a while back, actually. It was interesting.

Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 08/08/08 at 06:02 PM ET

“All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity.”
Gordie Howe

I did not want to misquote Mr.Hockey as I did earlier.

Posted by Kate from Pa. on 08/09/08 at 09:06 AM ET

Hey now, I’ve got a degree in the English language, and taking away the F-word...well that just ain’t done no fair.  :p

I’ve never been a rock-’em-sock-’em guy, but I’d rather see someone clock Avery, Boll, Stortini, and Carcillo when they start running around as if there are no deterrents against very intentionally “hitting to hurt” than a ban on fighting, frankly.

The days of the “gunslinger” are gone, but they’ve been replaced by “the punk,” and, to me, that’s why fighting is still pertinent in the NHL, aside from the fact that it really is a safety valve.

It is what it is.  I don’t care if the NHL endorses it--it might be vicious and unpalatable at times, but fighting is the nuclear deterrent, and if you’ve played hockey, you know that the threat of knuckles hitting faces tends to keep players honest in a way that banning fighting never could.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 08/09/08 at 12:36 PM ET

If you don’t like part of the sport, then dont watch it. If you want a nice calm sport with no contact maybe tennis is for you.  If you move to taking fighting out of the game, more violence will occur.  Say two players have frustration over each other, they know if they fight they will get 5 minutes in the box and thats it.  Now move a suspension and fine into this scenario.  The players can now physically assault the other player using a skate or even a stick and face the same consequences.  If your frustrated enough, who honestly would give the other player a fighting chance?

Posted by Bert from Pittsburgh on 08/09/08 at 01:29 PM ET