Fighting In Hockey Debate – NHLPA Has The Last Word

Last Tuesday George Parros was taken from the game on a stretcher after hitting the ice face first while engaged in a fight with Colton Orr.  The last 4 days has been full of media coverage and blog posts calling for the end of fighting in hockey.  In response we also heard from current players on a wide range of teams providing vocal support for the role of the enforcer.  The latter group has the final say on any change in penalties or efforts to reduce fighting.

An Open Letter to the NHLPA

The pro-fighting hockey crowd continues to throw out the comment that, “98% of NHL players approve of fighting”.   Even ignoring the fact that this interpretation is not exactly accurate, it was still disappointing to me that the NHLPA would have that level  of support for something that is against the rules.  So I thought that I would send them a letter asking them to take some steps to better express their views.

Junior Leagues Moving in the Right Direction

Over the past couple of weeks there has been some very good news coming out of the junior hockey leagues in the U.S. and in Canada.  USA Hockey is looking to ban fighting from its junior ranks and is hoping that Canadian junior hockey does the same.