After hearing the news of Don Sanderson I wasn’t sorry for him or his family because he died.  But I did feel that allowing players to fight in an uncontrolled environment is just ludicrous.  Although this is the first time someone has died in a hockey fight, there were some grim injuries from fight even before this.  If the leagues can’t control this they should just ban fighting in general so that players can keep their lives/careers instead of losing them to senseless fighting in the rinks.

Steve Maclntyre from the Oilers said “it’s part of the game,” and I’m sure a great number of players/fans think alike.  Players get frustrated and need to let off steam but that doesn’t mean they have to fight.  Even kids learn from their parents fighting is bad.  So how is it right in hockey?  I just don’t see the connection I would much rather watch a fast pace game of hockey and having to waste 3 min of my time watching two grown men fight like school girls.  If I wanted to watch a good fight I would go watch UFC / boxing match where the men can actually fight (where no one dies, or get knocked out into a coma because referees keep their fighters safe).

Folks may argue that because hockey is such a contact driven sport that players need to fight.  Well so are football and rugby, and fighting is not a norm in those sports.  Besides hockey I don’t think there is any other sport where fighting is allowed it’s just unprofessional. The hockey league should start changing the rules and make the game more exciting to watch for the fans and safer for the players.