I disagree with Burke on the basis that he's saying if there's no hockey, there's no way to keep the game in check, which means there isn't any other options, which simply is not true.
His suggestions of why fighting should be kept in the game could be addressed with added/sterner league rules. If a big guy wants to intimidate a small guy by ushering threats, he can go right ahead. If his threats means smashing the player into the boards, well that's in the rules and allowed. There's no reason to fight for that, nor is fighting going to prevent that anyway. Just because there's another big player on the other team isn't going to stop a player from using his body against smaller players. That's what he's paid to do.
Saying that fighting keeps the cheap stuff out of the game and removing it will let the savages run wild is specious. There are ways to keep tabs on the cheap actions without having to rely on fighting. Officials are there for a reason and suspensions are in place to take action on players that go out of line. Adjustments can be made there to keep the game clean and safe as possible.
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