It's in the game

PEBBLE BEACH - Let's get something straight right off the top: The National Hockey League likes its fighting, even more so considering it has been in steady decline for years.

The people inside these Board of Governor meetings almost never raise the topic of banning fights, because customer research tells all 30 teams that the paying fan enjoys a good scrap now and again. As such, the men who run the game are absolutely fine with a little bare-knuckle violence every so often. For the record, I feel the same way.

You just wish Gary Bettman would say so, in plain English.

"Our fans tell us that they like the level of physicality in our game," Bettman said Tuesday. That's saying it without saying it.

"There is no fighting debate right now," spat Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke, who days earlier had bragged about a potential fight with Edmonton Oilers president Kevin Lowe. "Maybe you (media) guys have one, but there's not one in the game."

At least Burke comes out and says it. He likes fighting, and doesn't much care what the opponents say.

The trouble lies, however, in a commissioner who prides himself on having the most progressive league in North America when it comes to concussions. When the New York Times reports that deceased enforcer Derek Boogaard's brain shows serious signs of brain injury, Bettman is forced to reconcile a genuine concern for concussions with the indisputable fact his league condones two men standing there, punching each other in the head while the officials simply let them "punch themselves out."

It is here that even Bettman, as eloquent and strategic as they come when behind the microphone, can't manage to convince.

"Look at our history," he said. "The studies, the working group, base line testing, dismiss and return to play protocols, rule changes, the creation of a department of player safety… We've been doing lots and lots."

They have. Yet, how do you explain that level of concern for concussions, when you still allow players to punch each other in the head repeatedly?

The problem is, you can't.

When asked the difference between concussions borne in the course of normal play and those borne of fights, Bettman said, "It's obvious. It's different in terms of willing combatants, and whether or not it's unsuspecting, to start."

So, a brain injury you didn't expect is worse than one you did? Tell that to Raitis Ivanans, who missed the entire 2010-11 season after Steve MacIntyre destroyed him in a fight on Opening Night.

The other distasteful trait we're beginning to see now is "defence by accusal." The Times story said doctors in Bedford, Mass. found that Boogaard's brain showed definite signs of "chronic traumatic encephalopathy, commonly known as C.T.E., a close relative of Alzheimer's disease."

So did Bob Probert's. Anyone who makes a living as a bare-knuckle fighter is going to have some brain trauma, one might assume, yet the NHL clings to the notion that there are other factors. That they need more proof that being punched in the head can cause brain injury.

"I haven't seen the story," Burke said, "but I think you're talking about a person with significant addiction issues as well. Same thing when you're talking about Bob Probert. Let's segregate out what the medicine tells us.

"Should we be concerned if players are suffering head injuries? Yes."

When asked if fighting makes for a dangerous workplace for players, Bettman said, "Maybe it is and maybe it's not. You don't know that for a fact.

"We play a very fast-paced physical game in a closed environment. People need to take a deep breath, and not overreact," he said, listing all the steps the NHL has taken in concussion prevention. "We are being extraordinarily proactive. But, there's a gap in the medical science.

"The data isn't there yet."

Here's what's really going on here:

Mixed martial arts proves that there is a significant sector of our society that is just fine with paying money to watch two men beat the tar out of each other. The NHL sees that, and believes that stripping that element from its game would lessen its product.

We get that. Just quit with the bamboozle about how no one is sure yet whether fighting leads to brain injuries.

And for Pete's sake, let's quit blaming the victims here, please. It is very distasteful.

"Do you know everything that went on their lives?" Bettman asks, alluding to Boogaard's off-ice issues. "Were there other things going on which could also cause CTE?"

You can think it, Gary. But like your true reasons for maintaining fighting in the game, just don't say them.

Mark Spector is the senior columnist on sportsnet.ca