While open-ice hits (especially and primarily those that are delivered to the head) are, to our knowledge, far more likely to result in concussions, I think it’s a pretty lame argument in favor of keeping fighting in the game. Sure, most individual punches aren’t causing concussions, but the sheer number of them is what adds up. It’s not always a knockout punch doing the damage; each successive hit to the head is what accumulates, and that result is what’s scary because it’s not something that’s always immediately seen or understood. I don’t think anyone should be that surprised — hell, they’ve done studies along these lines re: the effects of heading the ball in soccer (and no soccer jokes, Vinny).

I just have to wonder how long we’ll kind of see this glaring evidence, which continues to mount and develop as the stigma associated with being, you know, a human being slowly erodes, and say, “Ehhh, okay, we know this is the consequence of fighting, but we’ll just make it happen less often,” rather than saying, “Alright, game over.”

I think we also need to stop believing in the ridiculous ‘boys will be boys’ attitude that we’ve allowed to persist both on and off the rink. I refuse to believe that grown men can’t help themselves and learn to keep their gloves on and channel their anger, frustration, or inspiration in other ways that don’t involve delivering an uppercut to another person’s chin. It’s a lot like saying that men just can’t help themselves from sexually harassing or raping a woman because the skirt she was wearing was so short or because she was just SO BEAUTIFUL. My goal here isn’t to say that fighting in a damn hockey game is the equivalent of rape, but I think it helps illustrate that the outdated assumption that boys will, in fact, be ‘boys’ is pretty absurd. While I think most people would now agree that a man can, in fact, “help himself” from touching a woman without her consent (unless you’re in Italy, where just a few years ago they finally overturned a ruling that it can’t be rape if the woman’s wearing tight jeans), we seem to still think they can’t help themselves when it comes to punching the shit out of another man during a hockey game. And that’s just plain false.

You and I have discussed this to some extent, but I can’t help but think that fighting is one of the last remaining vestiges of the mentality that especially colors North American hockey as being something manly or macho. To me, it would seem logical that if we’re able to agree that each fight is, as you put it, unarmed assault, its place in the game would naturally be questioned. If we’re going to rail against headshots in a concentrated and systematic way, I don’t see how we can persist in making a glaring exception for a fight, in which each punch thrown is an intentional headshot, despite whatever honorable motives might be behind it (and there truly are).

People are going to resist change, especially when you call into question something they truly enjoy or consider to be an ‘essential’ part of something. But I think fighting is going to have to eventually go the way of the helmet-less player. The more we learn about brain injuries, the more we understand the consequences of rallying fisticuffs, the less we can continue to champion a fight. I don’t think you can look at the evidence and say that fighting can’t be directly linked to some serious off-ice issues, be they physical or emotional; your articles certainly would support such a link. It would seem foolish to ignore them and find ways to keep fighting in the game when, really, phasing it out is really the best solution here. Again, I realize that people will do whatever they can to keep it in the game because of whatever meaning they attach to it, but I have to hope that scientific evidence and reason will prevail over emotional attachments to an activity that, frankly, is already losing some steam.

I love hockey. You might tell me I don’t love the NHL, that I don’t love hockey enough, that I’m weak, or whatever else. I realize that my opinion on the matter might be discarded because I, myself, am more a skill player and proponent of seeing hockey for the display of talent that’s involved during the run of play rather than when the gloves are dropped.

But the game changes. The game has changed before, and it’s going to continue to do so. And while there will be some truly epic outrage and mourning when fighting is ultimately removed from hockey, we’ll get over it and adapt.

I really like the support idea (and if anyone is reading, I have job history in being a persona assistant!!!) just from reading what Bob Probert was doing post-career.

I especially agree with providing support after their careers are over. Too often, it’s out of sight, out of mind. But the red flags aren’t always apparent early on. And even when they are, like with Rypien last year, they’re misunderstood.

I’m a Kings fan, and I love my enforcers Westgarth and Clifford, but I know their days are numbered. They have to develop skills besides fisticuffs to stay viable in the game.