The times are a-changin’ in the NHL, and so are the opinions of some veteran hockey voices.
Former player, coach and general manager Mike Milbury, who currently works as an NHL analyst in the United States, believes it’s time to consider eliminating fighting from the game.
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Heading into the 2014-15 season, we’ve seen a trend of teams electing to go with smaller, skilled players ahead of designated tough guys. Notable heavyweights George Parros, Paul Bissonnette, Kevin Westgarth and Krys Barch, among others, are currently free agents, while teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs opted to send their two enforcers, Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren, down to the American Hockey League as the likes of Matt Frattin, Peter Holland and Brandon Kozun earned spots on the NHL club.
“It’s telling me that it’s time to get rid of fighting. It’s telling me that it’s over,” Milbury said prior to Wednesday’s game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins. “As much as I liked a good scrap in my day, too many issues here involving concussions. Too many problems. The teams are going away from it. Let’s grow up and get rid of it.”
Milbury played 754 career NHL games—all with the Bruins—and he racked up 1,552 penalty minutes. He’s certainly no stranger to the rough stuff, but his views have changed over the years.
“So many problems with concussions, if you can eliminate certain things—one of them is a fight that would eliminate a concussion in that regard—you have to do it. There are too many guys seriously hurt. It’s time.”
The number of fights in the NHL has decreased significantly over the past five seasons. According to hockeyfights.com, there were fights in 41.38 per cent of NHL games (734 total fights) in 1,230 total games in 2008-09. Last season the percentage of games with fights dropped to 29.76, as there were only 469 fights last season. There were two fights in four games on opening night Wednesday.
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