Fighting in the NHL?

As the NHL season started on Tuesday, the NHL is already having discussions about fighting in the NHL. For those who missed it, George Parros of the Montreal Canadiens sustained a concussion after his fight with Colton Orr. George Parros was forced to leave the game after he fell face first to the Ice during the fight. He was taken off the ice on a stretcher and we sent to hospital.

Because of this, multiple General Managers had stated that they would like fighting removed from the NHL. According the TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the following GMS have stated that fighting should be removed; Steve Yzerman, Jim Rutherford, Ray Shero and others. With the NHL cracking down on hits and injuries involving the head and facial region, this claim to stop fighting is legitimate. The GM’s that wish to stop fighting are managers of teams that on average have the lowest fight during an 82 game season. Based on the last full NHL season (2011-2012), Carolina had 19, Tampa Bay had 23 fighting majors, and Pittsburgh had 32. This is in the bottom third of the NHL as Boston and the Rangers had the most fights in the NHL with 65. As stated in Darren Dreger’s report, fighting is a very complicated issue and it will take time to review. This issue has been brought up multiple times at General Manager Meetings during the past NHL seasons.

I feel that fighting is a major part of the NHL game and it shouldn’t be removed. That being said, I feel that the NHL should do something to reduce injuries resulting from a fight and I feel that new rule about removing helmets before a fight is a good rule and could help in reducing the amount of injuries.