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Originally Posted by Tinordi
But actually this is the NHL's biggest weak spots from a liability standpoint. They have acknowledged the role of body checking on head trauma and have taken steps to eliminate head injury from body checking. They're accepting some responsibility for the health of players actually playing the game by automatic suspensions for any head contact.
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A couple points. First, no there are not automatic suspensions for any head contact. There are, in fact, no automatic suspensions at all for any contact. Suspension is a potential outcome for certain types of head contact, yes, but it remains subjective. Second, whether you want to admit it or not, fighting is part of the game. You can champion its removal, that is a fair opinion that I obviously disagree with, but don't pretend it isn't part of the game.
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It is not consistent then with its position on fighting. If the reason for eliminating head shots in checking was for player health and then if punches to the head are shown to debilitate players then why aren't they taking steps to eliminate punches to the head. It's a massive lawsuit waiting to happen. Because of which fighting will be a distant memory in not too long.
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Like I said, the players themselves choose it. One of the stats going around today is a recent (2011-12) poll that had 98% of players opposing a ban on fighting. Players oppose removal and fans love it. The truth is, until the bottom line is affected, the vocal minority is not going to change it.