Do People Want To See Fighting In Hockey?

From old timer Marty McSorley, to present day Georges Laraque, these were and are considered the heavyweights of the NHL. Enforcers of the league and protectors of the stars; they stand up for their teammates and sacrifice themselves for chunks of 5 minuets at a time. Recently, these types of players have been criticized for their play.

The American public doesn't want to see this type of behavior from professional athletes. Bullcrap. Just look at all the different fight leagues popping up on T.V. The UFC, IFL WEC, Elite XC, and Strikeforce are just a few of these leagues. Even ESPN has put Chuck Liddell from the UFC in its "Who's Now" competition.

Not only are the fights in the NHL exciting, they have a purpose. Just look on youtube for a fight of Laraque V.S. Raitis Ivanans. They actually agree to fight each other. Why? Because they both know that whoever wins, just gained a huge moral boost for their respective team, especially if your the home team.

All of the talk this year to abolish fighting started from violent actions such as Chris Simon's slash on Ryan Hollweg's face. From that single action, many other incidents were brought up, including former Penguin Ronald Petrovicky. These types of actions have been called one of the main reasons the NHL is the black eye of the sporting world.

Fact of the matter is, the NHL needs fighting. The NFL has linemen to protect the quarterback, the only protection a baseball player needs is a cup and a glove and the NBA isn't a contact sport unless your in the paint. Guys like Laraque, Petrovicky, and Donald Brasher are needed to protect stars like Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.

There is nothing like watching a fight if your at the game. The Crowd is going insane cheering for their home town combatant. Lets face it, these guys become fan favorites the minute they step on the ice. Jarkko Ruutu was cheered for in the first game as a Penguin. He didn't even fight but his presence was enough. Same with Colby Armstrong. He was supposed to be a big scorer this past year, however he struggled. So he adjusted his role and laid out at least 10 big hits throughout the year, and solidified his position as a Penguin.

Fighting is a natural part of the game that can't be taken away. If it is, then we could end up seeing more severe acts of violence due to built up anger.

The fans love fighting, and so do the players. What more do you need?