On February 16, 2004, Colorado forward Scott Moore laid a hit on the then leading point scorer Markus Näslund of the Vancouver Canucks. The hit was to the head, and would knock the Canucks player out for three games with a minor concussion and a chip in his elbow. While the hit was not penalized, many found it to be a dirty hit, especially the Colorado players and coaches. Canucks forward Brad May went so far as to issue a bounty on Scott Moore’s head. The next time the two teams met, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, and the NHL’s disciplinarian Colin Campbell attended the game, no major incidents occurred.

On March 8, 2004, the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks would play once again. In the first period Colorado forward Matt Cooke would go on to challenge Vancouver forward Scott Moore to a fight. Scott Moore accepted, and the two fought and received five minute penalties each (eligible to return to the game). Vancouver felt that this was not enough, and added that the score was 8-2 in Colorado’s favor. Things would take a tragic turn when Todd Bertuzzi began to follow Scott Moore around the ice, trying to incite a fight from Moore. Moore refused to fight and ignored Bertuzzi. So Bertuzzi, who was skating behind Moore, pulled on Moore’s jersey (sweater) and sucker punched him in the back of the head. Moore fell unconscious onto the ice, Bertuzzi on top of him, driving his head into the ice. Soon a mixture of Colorado and Vancouver Players were on top of the pile. Moore was taken off the ice on a stretcher, and suffered career ending injuries that include fractured vertebrae in his neck, a grade three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and several facial cuts.

Bertuzzi would go on to release an emotional and tearful apology to Scott Moore and his family. The punishment was swift, and Todd Bertuzzi would be suspended indefinitely, one day after his press conference. On August 8, 2005, the NHL announced that Bertuzzi would be allowed to play again at the start of the 2005–06 NHL season. Bertuzzi forfeited $501,926.39 in salary, and lost around $350,000.00 in endorsements.

This was the first time that a hockey altercation would be taken into the courts; where after accepting a plea bargain, Bertuzzi pled guilty to an assault charge. He was given a conditional discharge and one year’s probation. Canadian law stipulated that after the successful completion of the probation, Bertuzzi would no longer have a criminal record.

Fast-forward seven years, and an almost identical situation took place, with different repercussions.

On February 2, 2011, with 16.3 seconds left in a game between New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins, Islanders Goaltender Rick DiPietro would throw up his stick and blocker into Pittsburgh Penguins, rough and tumble (sometimes called dirty), Matt Cooke. Matt Cooke went down and slid into the corner, where several Islander players mistook his actions, and attempted to pummel him. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh Goaltender Brent Johnson skated across the center ice, upset at what he felt was a dirty shot by fellow goaltender DiPietro, and challenged the Islanders goaltender to a fight. The two met up near the blue line of the Islanders zone. The two grabbed a hold of one another, and with one punch Brent Johnson knocked down and broke DiPietro’s cheek bone. The rest of the game would go on without incident.

On February 11, 2011, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders would meet in a rematch at the Nassau Coliseum, on Long Island. New York Islanders would go on to fill their roster with several minor league enforcers (fighters Mat Martin, Micheal Haley, Zenon Kenopka, and Trevor Gillies). The game started off physical, but did not feature its first of eight fights until the middle of the first period when a Penguins forward was manhandled in a fight with Islanders forward Micheal Haley. Eric Godard would fight Trevor Gillies a few minutes later. But things would not hit their boiling point until midway through the second period, when Matt Martin would skate behind Penguins forward Maxime Talbot, who was not aware of Martin’s presence; Martin dropped his gloves and attempted to sucker punch Talbot. The punch just missed, but created a line brawl. The referees were quick to react, and kicked every skater (excluding the goalies) out of the game.

Moments into the third period, Michael Haley got into his second fight and put a beating on Talbot, then afterward skated his way to the Penguins’ net minder and challenged the goalie to a fight. Penguins’ enforcer Eric Godard jumped over the bench and came to his goalies aid. Trevor Gillies would go on to elbow Pittsburgh forward Eric Tangradi, knocking him out, and while he was laid face first on the ice, Gillies would throw several punches to the unconscious player’s head. When Tangradi regained consciousness, Gillies would mock the dazed Tangradi. After the game was finished, the stat sheet showed a total of 346 penalty minutes and 10 ejections, not including the 10 minute penalties that effectively tossed players that received said penalties with less than ten minutes to go.

Due to Eric Godard leaving the bench, he would receive a total 10 game suspension. The NHL would go on to give Gillies a 9 game suspension, Martin 4 games, and Haley received no suspension or punishment. The NHL also fined the Islanders $100,000 for failing to control their players.

The Hall of Fame Player and Owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins would speak out, and thrash the league over its lightweight punishments, and its failure to protect the players, his comments:

“Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn’t hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to watch the game I love, turn into a sideshow like that.”

“The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed.”

“We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players. We must make it clear that those kinds of actions will not be tolerated, and will be met with meaningful disciplinary action.”

“If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to re-think whether I want to be a part of it.”

On the other side, Islanders Coach Jack Capuano, and Islanders GM Garth Snow, stated they were proud of the way their team performed.

Hall of Fame and Legendary Player, Wayne Gretzky wrote in his Autobiography “Hockey is the only team sport in the world that actually encourages fighting. I have no idea why we let it go on. Fights probably bring more people into the buildings. But how many people do they keep out of the building? I’ve met people in L.A who said, ‘Well we don’t go to the game because it is too violent.’ Too me that’s just sad… Every time I bring it up to the league, they point out these studies about how many people want fighting”

What we saw on the 11th of February was a travesty, and an embarrassment to Hockey. The league continues to fumble situation like these, and remains inconsistent. Colin Campbell has become a laughing stock when it comes to professional sports. Maybe it is time to remove fighting from hockey. Lots of hockey supporters (which used to include, yours truly) will make bogus statements like “If you take away the fighting, you will get people using their sticks as a weapon”. Well my solution is, you suspend players for that also.

How far do things have to go in order for change? Does someone have to die on ice? Matt Martin, and Todd Bertuzzi could have very easily have killed someone with their actions. Sooner than later someone will die due to fighting. Wait a moment, someone already has. On December 12, 2008, in a Senior Hockey league game. Dunlops defenseman Don Sanderson took part in a fight, during which his helmet was dislodged, and when Sanderson fell to the ice, he struck his head. Sanderson would go into a coma, and three weeks later he would die due to the injuries sustained in the fight.

Often hockey fighting supporters will point out the Hockey code. There is no clear definition of said code, and everyone seems to have their own interpretation. To most, it is “No fighting skilled players; no punching while your opponent is in a vulnerable position or on the ground, and finally; the fight must be coessential”. Unfortunately, not very many enforcers follow this code.

As things stand right now, players like Eric Godard (Colton Orr, Jared Boll, Geroge Parros, etc.) are essential, and are there to protect the stars. Unfortunately, some players go beyond the call of standing up for those who cannot, and we get thugs like Trevor Gillies. If the NHL would suspend any player for participating in a fight, you would effectively rid the league of enforcers. If the league would suspend the agitators and instigators, like Matt Cooke, Sean Avery, Scott Hartnell, and Chris Pronger, for the dirty actions they frequently perpetrate (slashes, cross checks, blind-side hits, slew-foots, tripping, etc.), hockey could be one of the prettiest sports, showcasing the amazing talent from players all over the world. Yet too often, several leagues allow this stuff to go on. The recent incidents make the NHL look like a garage league.