I was as die-hard a "Fighting is good for the game! Taking it out will ruin it!" guy as there was out there. As I get older and wiser, and as we learn more about the suffering these men are go through in their 40's and 50's, the more I am opposed to it, and the stronger I feel it's time to let it go, rip the band-aid of, and just ban fighting altogether.
With age comes perspective about what is truly important, and young, strong men filled with testosterone and chasing dollar signs really aren't able to truly understand the future implications of what they are doing to their brains. Their perspective is too slanted to make a truly educated decision. What has especially changed my mind on this is seeing what a good friend of mine, and ex-teammate is going through in his late 40's. He was a goon in the ECHL, and is absolutely paying the price now.
Yes, there was some awesome moments in the past that included fighting. I have many great memories of guys pumped up on adrenaline beating the hell out of each other in high-stakes emotional battles. I've also watched many of those men die way too young as a result to satisfy our blood-lust.
Many men built their careers and wealth being enforcers, goons, pugilists whatever you wanna call them. Good for them, and good for the ones that weren't reduced to husks of men cowering in the fetal position in a dark bedroom. But we need to eliminate this career path in the NHL.
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