Fighting and the Controversy That Comes With It

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1522417/images/o-NHL-FIGHTING-facebook.jpg This is a big topic in today's NHL, and has lots of pro's and con's. The main thing most people will look at is the safety of fighting. It doesn't sound like it would be safe at all, considering there's two grown men standing on razor sharp blades, exchanging some heavy, some weak blows. Though it sounds odd, the players are probably safer when they're communicating with their fists, rather than flying up and down the ice, shooting a rock solid puck at 90 MPH, with sticks and body's flying everywhere's. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o4dq1LVBtLw/UWXz-bvHV7I/AAAAAAAABhg/qcYV057SS3k/s1600/carey-price-tim-thomas.jpg The referees know when to get in between two guys fighting when they've had enough, so It's not like It's a full on the back-alley brawl that has no control whatsoever. It's something that gets the players standing up, paying close attention, and rooting for their teammate to feed the opponent all sorts of lefts and rights, though they don't mind if he doesn't. The fans who are in the arena are on their feet, much like their team cheering for the player wearing the right jersey. Even the fans who are watching from their homes are on the edge of their seats, waiting for something to happen. There's nothing better than seeing a good scrap. https://sports-images.vice.com/images/articles/meta/2016/07/13/nhl-rule-changes-that-would-make-hockey-great-again-1468429778.jpg?crop=1xw:0.9945972495088409xh;center,center&resize=1050:* Getting everybody fired up Isn't the only part about fighting in the NHL. If a heavy hit is put on a star player, or if there's a dirty hit made on somebody, somebody needs to step up and get revenge for their teammate, telling the opponent that It's unacceptable to do that. A few examples of this that comes to mind would be in the 2013-14 season, John Scott who was playing for the Buffalo Sabres at the time threw a nasty hit to the head of Boston's Loui Eriksson. The hit concussed Eriksson, causing him to miss a large amount of time. A 5:00 minute major and a game misconduct just doesn't cut it. Adam McQuaid knew that the hit was cheap and unnecessary. He didn't knock Scott out cold, and he didn't even really get much of him, but that wasn't the point. If fighting wasn't in the NHL, to quote Don Cherry, "You'll see the rats start to come out". Referring to the guys who would be willing to maybe throw a knee or an elbow, but wouldn't want to pay the price afterwards.

Here is fighting in numbers which shows the decline over the years.

http://thecanadianpress-a.akamaihd.net/graphics/2016/static/cp-nhl-fights-on-the-decline.png I'm not saying fighting is the best part of the game, but I believe it has great importance. You'll rarely see two players drop the gloves just for the sake of fighting, The majority of fights happen for a reason. Whether that reason is the team is playing sloppy, and needs a spark, or as mentioned above, somebody throws a dirty hit, and they need to pay the price.