Bill Daly on Fighting
Something I’ve been meaning to get to for a few days now: Christy, from Behind the Jersey asked Bill Daly a few questions about fighting.
Daly, who many view as a possible future commissioner of the NHL, commented that the league doesn’t plan on changing any rules related to fighting at the moment and doesn’t believe any change would affect the popularity of the game in the States. As a top-level executive his comments on attendance and lack/no lack of passion in the game can only be expected. Attendance (reporting) is still high compared to years before, and it’d be improper for anyone in the league office to broadly criticize players in such a way.
Something from the Q&A that needs repeating:
“Fighting” is going to happen regardless of what our rules are, so there is no such thing as “banning” or “eliminating ” fighting in the game. The only issue is how severely it is penalized.
This is reality and it is amazing how few realize this. It’s not just why incidents like Bertuzzi-Moore can happen whether you “ban” fighting or not, but also why basketball players have run into the stands, and baseball still has bench clearing brawls. Pro athletes are human and emotion can get the best of them. No matter what rules you make, they will be broken at some point.
It was good to see Daly respond directly to Christy’s questions.
