Fighting: Integral to the Game or Unnecessary Violence?

Now this is a post I wasn't really planning on doing right now but then with the events tonight in the Toronto-Montreal season opener, I thought the timing would be fitting.

As we all know, there are so many opinions on fighting in hockey depending on who you ask. It goes from the extreme of it being barbaric to the other end of it being a necessary and enjoyable part of hockey.

So with that kind of a range of opinions, what's the league going to end up doing about fighting with the ever increasing number of injuries?

Well, I think....
that I have no idea what they are going to do. Personally, I do feel that fighting is an integral part of the game. But I know there are many that don't share that perspective so I have no clue what the league is going to do. 

Much like it was discussed on CBC tonight - and please keep in mind here, that I don't actually agree with most of what the CBC analysts and color commentators say the majority of the time - fights happen for a reason in hockey.

Without fights, everyone thinks that they are invincible. This is the situation where you get little guys taking on too much of a physical role and end up injuring themselves or others. Or where cheap plays are made knowing that there will be little retribution. Or where checks get more and more violent. There's so many things that go wrong if you remove the negative reinforcement of fighting. 

With the exception of fighting to create a spark for a slumping team, there is usually a valid argument behind them dropping their mitts. Sure, you can take the non-violent stance and argue that violence won't end violence, but with the way hockey works, it sure appears as though these guys want nothing other than to punch someone when they are out for blood, pun not intended. 

Now to touch on injuries. Injuries happen in lots of other instances of hockey. That's the risk you run when you play the game. How many injuries do we see caused by checks, pucks, sticks, falling, a play gone wrong? More than with fighting.

So now to transition to the 2013 NHL Season Opener fight between Colton Orr and George Parros. As you may recall, Colton Orr has had quite a few concussions in his hockey career, mostly due to his fighting style of play. In 2009, when Orr was new with the Leafs, his season ended early when he sustained a concussion while fighting George Parros. Fastfoward back to 2013, and those two players face off again. And then again. But the second time, things went wrong. And when it went wrong, it was no one's fault, just pure accident. When Parros swung for Orr the last time, he had his eyes closed which caused him to not know that Orr had already fallen down and was not there. The momentum of Parros' swing sent him face first into the ice, knocking him out. It was not pretty. Orr has been there himself so he knows what it's like to be on Parros' end of this, and he looked absolutely terrified waving over Montreal's doctor.

What happened to Parros was terrible, don't get me wrong. You never want to see anyone lying there, blood on the ice, looking dazed and getting carried out on a stretcher. And I do hope that Parros will be better soon, because no one deserves that. That all being said though, what happened to him was an accident. And it's part of the territory that comes with being a fighter. Fighters get hurt, whether at their own hands of the hands of others. And it's common knowledge.

And as for this new helmets stay on in fighting rule, so far from the fights we've seen, and from what I presume will happen, it's not going to change a single thing. All that's going to happen is everyone will get 7 for fighting because they will either remove each others or talk each other into taking it off. I don't see anything changing from that rule.