Fighting In The NHL

The NHL strike is finally over and the teams are back to playing hockey with an abbreviated 48 game season. The shortened season seems to have placed a greater sense of urgency at the beginning of the season because teams cannot afford to get too far behind. This has caused more fighting majors at the beginning of the season as most teams are out to make a statement. I was watching the Rangers-Maple Leafs game the other night and the announcer made the comment that every team in the Eastern Conference had at least one tough guy on the team now. The Carolina Hurricanes went out and traded for Kevin Westgarth of the Los Angeles Kings to add to Tim Gleason. Gleason is a stand up guy and will stick up for his teammates but he didn't exactly strike fear into the hearts of the other team. When I first started watching hockey, I was attracted to the fighting as most casual fans are. However, the more I watched it, the more I began to realize what a beautiful, fluid sport hockey is with some amazing athletes. There is also a time to drop the gloves and a time to skate away. The Carolina Hurricanes and Buffalo Sabres were tied 0-0 about halfway thru the second period and John Scott of the Sabres tried drawing Kevin Westgarth of the Hurricanes into a fight. The Hurricanes announcer quickly pointed out that Westgarth had no reason to drop the gloves because it would only serve to get the crowd into the game (the game was in Buffalo) and fire up the Sabres and may have the adverse effect on the Hurricanes.