Enough is enough with these criminal assault charges in the world of hockey.  Let the hockey world handle their own on ice incidents.  Has an NFL player ever had to answer criminal charges when he collides head to head with another player and that player ends up paralyzed?  Has an MMA fighter or a boxer ever had to answer criminal charges when his opponent dies in the ring?  Has a surfer ever had to answer criminal charges when another surfer surfing the same break drowns?  The answer to all of the above is no.  The only reason hockey is under the microscope is because of the bare knuckle fighting.  Hockey is a very, very physical sport.  It’s fast and it’s emotional.  Things happen in a second, in the heat of the moment.  Adreneline is a very underestimated.  When it kicks in we do things are uncontrollable.  Back the criminal justice system off.  Suspend the players, fine them, penalize them, whatever.  Just keep the law away and let hockey handle hockey.  And Laraque is right on with the staged fighting.  So the puck drops and the players skate around for 5 or 6 seconds and then take care of business.  The staged fights already is a joke.

Christian, that’s all well and good to say it’s a physical game, but it’s also a game where you can expect and predict when it will be physical.

No sportsman or fan should defend or condone somebody sucker-punching someone or intentionally trying to injure someone. (I’m NOT saying that’s what happened in this case).

This is their livelihood, and while they will take the knocks and scrapes as part of the game, players must be able to have a reasonable expectation that their career won’t be ended deliberately or outside of the rules, and in that situation, they deserve financial compensation.

I think the same would hold true of other sports where the there is rough play, for example Rugby, but not Boxing or MMA where it’s actually the intention to knock someone unconscious (and I love boxing in case anyone thinks I’m attacking it).