[DtheP47]

Originally Posted by Eric

What a crock of horse manure ... the fans don't go to the games to see fights; they go to watch hockey. If all they want to see is fighting, they can pay the same amount of money and go watch George St Pierre. Hockey is about skating, passing, puck handling, shooting, checking, and luck. It's an intensely physical game, played by big, strong men, at high speed on a small playing surface. Sometimes tempers flare ... but the problem is usually resolved in a matter of less than a minute. Fighting is a minor part of a very skillful game. The only reason that people are highlighting and debating the role of fighting in hockey is that it has become politically correct to do so ... same reason that some folks would like to see kids forced to wear protection while playing games like conkers. When I came to this country ... that would be the last year of the original six ... players didn't wear helmets, not even the goalie. Eddie "Iron Man" Giacomin used to stop pucks with his face. Maybe the pc nazis will win out and take all the physicality out of hockey, reducing it to some bland, green, lite, eco friendly pale image of itself ... maybe we can change the name of the game to soccer.

Originally Posted by Eric

I really don't want to get too serious on a thread like this; .

Calm down Eric, have cup of tea mate