Quote:
Originally Posted by highthief
I'd say race has nothing to do with it - however, people being blindly tied to tradition does have a lot to do with it (i.e., "fighting is good for hockey because when I was growing up and when Granddad was growing up we used to throw down all the time").
However, I think fighting should go from hockey. There are sports every bit as rough and competetive that manage to largely do without it (American football, rugby, etc) without diminishing the passion or edge.
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It may not diminish the passion or the edge(personally I think the edge would be gone), but it sure would be the end of the NHL as most people know it. It's the pussification of the game as Millbury put it, or the Pierre McGuireification of the game as he also said. Banning fighting essentially turns it into the European game, of diving, and stick work, and whining to the referee that so and so stuck someone .
We'd have a bunch of Jarko Ruttu's or Ulf Samuelson's running around like chickens with their heads cut off, because they could get away with their type of play(chickenshit) with no fear of retribution. Remember the knee job Ulfy gave Cam, then pulled the turtle when it was time to face the man who's career he tried to end?
Also how do you get fighting out of hockey? Fines? These players make millions, a few grand in fines won't stop them from dropping the gloves. Make it against the law and charge them criminally? Well then people just won't bother playing the game, I know I would have quit if they brought the law onto the ice.