Hockey Fights RULE!!!! (Deal with it)

So last year I wrote this piece when we had only 15 Rioters! on board and you all loved it. Because Hockey Fights are awesome. Unfortunately our growth rate (being very very healthy BTW) has not reached everyone yet because today, two weeks into this NHL season, I heard the whining again. What whining? That fighting in hockey should be banned. Oh My God! Enough already. 75 years, and this is still shocking to people? On the day where articles are abound about Michael Buble blasting the NHL for it's treatment of players who fight and hit hard. Buble say that the NHL penalizes tough players too much and is basically pussifying the sport (that's not a direct quote). The actual quote went more like this "I find it hypocritical that men who made their money fighting or playing the tough guy are now telling people it shouldn't be part of the game. I think it's part of hockey -- no one's ever got killed fighting. I think there's got to be atonement on the ice. You take a shot at a team's best player, then you need to pay the price," Bublé told AOL Music. Right after I read this I was beaming with excitement over the fact that even a (enter adjective of your choice here) like Buble is pro fighting in hockey; I turn on the radio and hear fans on the airwaves whining about fighting on the ice? IS MICHAEL BUBLE TOUGHER THAN YOU?! Who dares step up to the plate and make that claim? He's a crooner, and an annoying one at that. Look at this guy. Good looking, yes. Great voice, sure if you're into that. Owner of a Major Junior Hockey League team in Vancouver? Yes and I respect that. Tough? NO WAY! Want to know who's tough, HOCKEY PLAYERS! (why do I have to get angry about this sh*t?) Here's what I wrote almost a year ago and it still holds true. Enjoy.

One Year Ago
So I heard someone call a radio station yesterday and say that they can't watch a sport where it's ok to fight for 5 minutes, and then just move on like nothing happened. I disagree. I actually wish it was like this in real life, let alone hockey. Don't you wish you could just smack your boss in the mouth if he/she gets out of line? I mean, not all of us have the boss that you want to piledrive into the desk, but at least half of us do. I feel that hockey needs to finally embrace this aspect of the game instead of trying to "clean up the game." Maybe they should have a spotlight that shines on the 2 or 3 guys fighting, and a bell should ring....just for effect. Maybe they should have friday night fights. Like every friday, you get the 2 toughest SOB's from each game that night, and have them square off at intermission, and broadcast it. Make it fun for everyone. I guarantee if they do this, "Vs." network will play a hell of alot more games. They love them some fightin' on that network. Then, we can have WWF style sh*t talking between periods. We could bring "Mean" Gene Oakerlund back and make a show of it. Look if the NHL isn't going to get ratings anyway, you might as well appeal to the meatheads out there, and grab a share while you still can. The NHL is two more piss poor seasons away from not even making the sportscenter highlights anymore. It's bad enough they get like two and a half minutes at the very end of the show maybe three times a week. You know Barry Melrose gets stared at and snickered at when he hits the Sportscenter set. When Trent Dilfer can look at you and laugh at your irrelevance, it's hard to come back from.
Now I know what some of you are saying "What about the children? Don't you think this senseless violence sends the wrong messgage?" As a parent I will say this. Yes it is violence for violence sake, and yes it's probably not what the kids should see. As a parent, I know what my kids are watching, and if a brawl does break out, I explain to my child that that is an uppercut. That is a body blow. That is a cheap shot. Watch these fights with your kids and talk to them about it and teach them. Like how to properly pull your opponents jersey over your opponents head rendering him defensless, so you can really do some damage. Teach him never to take your helmet off, and if you need to, use your stick as a weapon. (Nobody messes with Marty McSorley anymore)
So let them fight, let them fight, let them fight!! If you don't think that fighting is maybe the best part of hockey, watch this vid and you be the judge. This is a Rangers/Islanders tradition. The full-on brawl. Even the goalies fight. And boy, Dan Cloutier was willing to take on the whole Islander bench. Wait for that scene, it's a classic. Enjoy.