RIP Don Sanderson (1987 ? 2009)

Pierre McGuire talks about a mile a minute but when he said a few years ago that someone was going to die during a fight has pretty much been ignored by the NHL.

The NHL obviously thinks fighting is necessary? but really fighting has drastically changed over the years and the NHL instead of doing something to limit it or prevent it has now taken it a higher level. They are almost making a joke of it.

There has been fighting in hockey since the beginning but the biggest difference is those players were the tough-guys and there would only be in a handful of fights. Today, almost every single fight is staged. It?s like GOON tryouts should be held on American Idol.

Is it a hockey fight or isn?t it? Is it in the heat of the moment or is it more suited for the stage and screen. Big Georges Laraque gets hooked-up with a NHL game microphone then asks, ?Do you want to go?? Come on!

If you support the argument that fighting really is part of the game would you also support your son (or daughter) dropping their gloves and kicking the daylights out of another player in squirt hockey. If so, how about, someone dropping their gloves and kicking the bejesus out of your son (or daughter) in a squirt game? of course you wouldn?t.

Hockey is a game that is not only fast ? but also exciting. It?s that way for both the players and for the fans. When you see the pumped-up exhilaration in a ?squirt? player and the magic the game brings by both the physical skills and the mental part that the game demands there is hardly a sport that matches it.

It?s still amazing to me that people still continue to say that ?fighting? is a part of the game. It isn?t. It happens ? but is not part of the game.

These young kids, who are learning how to skate, stickhandle, and how to work together as part of a team? but they are also learning a major lesson of good sportsmanship. Yet, after they leave the rink and watch an NHL game what they see is exactly the opposite. What they see are Staged-Fights. Staged fights were the announcers get as worked-up as ?Rasslin announcers and the mixed message is sent to these kids by the NHL and those supporting this stuff.

The NHL made major strides stopping the clutch and grabbing and stopping the use of your stick to stop a player?s advancement. That is one of the biggest changes and really has led to highlighting the skill of the players and the excitement of the game which was missing for too many years. Taking care of the staged fighting and watching the GOONS go the way of the dinosaur is what the NHL needs to do next.

When the playoffs start the GOONS usually are scratched or sit pretty much the entire game. That should be the first clue of how stupid it is.

McGuire?s suggestion is that if you fight you are out of the game. A simple solution that would eventually lead to GM?s adjusting their rosters. He also suggested that all fights along with headshots should be reviewed (by separate committees) and suspensions, fines be handed out accordingly. Everyone knows if a death happens as a result of a fight that immediately the NHL would stop it. Well, maybe that the death has to happen at the NHL level.

The question is: Is that what they are waiting for?

This is DR Hook?.. carry on.