Quote:
Originally Posted by N-E-B
Guys don’t make the NHL by simply being good at fighting anymore, and that’s a good thing. Back in the day most teams had at least one guy on their team whose sole purpose was to fight. In this day and age that role is virtually gone.
I still believe there’s a place for it in the game, but I don’t believe there’s a place for the “goon” anymore. I think the league is headed in the right direction.
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This was my thought. A lot of the stories you read about are guys who wouldn't have made the NHL except for their ability to drop the gloves (even though may not have wanted to do so and it caused them significant mental stress each game). Those types of guys are no longer in the league anymore, simply because of how the game has evolved.
Having said that, if more "mainstream" players are suffering from similar kinds of challenges (for the sake of the argument, I'll use occasional fighters like Ferland, Giordano, and Hathaway as examples), then it's time to consider getting rid of it. Hopefully helmet technology can mitigate some of the impacts we've seen from players getting bigger, stronger and faster, along with rule changes to protect vulnerable players.