There is NO reason for fighting to be in the NHL. Sure, go ahead and come up with some stupid reason why it's good. "Oh, it's just a way of saying, 'don't go after our players'." I know. You probably have some stupid reason why you think fighting belongs in hockey. It doesn't. You can have your own opinion and I'm not going to say, "I'm right, you're wrong," but if you think fighting belongs in hockey I disagree. After Svechnikov got injured in that fight it just shows that it needs to be removed. This isn't a one time thing. Lots of players have gotten injured in fights and just because it's always been in hockey doesn't mean it has to stay in the game.

So, whatever reason you come up with for why it should be in the game I will disagree with. If you agree it shouldn't be in the game, then i'm 100% with you. It's not "just hockey". It's not hockey at all. Remove it from the NHL and all hockey. It's just stupid and that's all it is.

I kinda disagree with rangersandislesfan above. Last night Ovi's fight was the reason there is fighting in the NHL. Two willing combatants. Isn't that better than two guys who would get suspended for fighting and therefore would using their sticks and endless wrestling at the whistles?
I do agree with fighting as part of the game is rather dumb, and it's because it's the rule book, it's part of the game....right or wrong. Last Sunday. when Tiger Woods was making a charge at the Masters, one of the golfers didn't start a fight with Woods to change the momentum. Don't think there is a five stroke penalty for fighting in the USGA rules.
Even if fighting isn't banned completely, it is seriously on the decline. All players wear face masks, generally doesn't result in that many head shots now. Plus the culture of the fighting has changed in a generation or two. It's discouraged by rules in kids hockey in North America, and with more Europeans in the game, fighting has always been discouraged.
As rangersandislesfan said above "It's not hockey at all. Remove it from the NHL and all hockey. It's just stupid and that's all it is." Yep agree with that. But removing all fighting without worse implications is the difficult solution that right now is unresolved.

I remember when I was a kid (the 90's, I'm 35) seeing a fight was awesome. Now I cringe a bit, knowing what I know now about concussions. I don't want to see it go from the game though.

But wouldn't that be good if they remove it? What does it do that's good for the game?

my biggest issues with the fighting is when it goes from a fight to bullying.

A player like Wilson is a good example of it. The guy is 6'4 and yet he's always trying to cause problems with players who are like 5'10.

If you want to go drop gloves with someone and start crap with them, go pick on someone your own size.

It's funny you bring this up, I just wrote a paper on fighting in hockey

Do you think they should remove fighting?

I've never played organized hockey, so I'm at a huge disadvantage understanding, well a lot about hockey. I'm a fan of the organic, drop the gloves cause you need to stop playing dirty type of fight. The refs can police the game enough to keep everyones head cool, in my opinion. Players having this honor code with in the game is very cool, I don't want to see that go, but I also don't want to see guys get concessions (I've had a bunch, it sucks) Todays players seem to play a lot different than 20 years ago, so fighting has really gone away anyway.

At the end of the day, hockey is entertainment. Fans often cheer louder during a great fight than after a great goal. The NHL, unlike the IIHF for example, is a for profit business. Entertainment is good business. I say, give the people what they want.

But they only like it because it's been around for so long. There's absolutely no reason for it. And if people stop watching games because they remove fighting then those aren't real fans. I'm not saying you're not a hockey fan if you like fighting, but if you actually stop watching hockey all because they remove fighting, then those aren't real fans. So, yes, they might lose some "fans" if they take fighting out of the game, but I don't think they'd lose hockey fans.

The only legitimate reason to keep fighting, is to prevent players from taking rasher actions with intent to injure. If you can't fight, players are going to look for another way to get their revenge. I don't care for it as entertainment. Even fighting sports have padded flooring and gloves to reduce the potential impact from someone falling on their head or taking bare knuckle punches. If they want to stop the game, drag out a mat, take off the skates, and put gloves on before engaging in a fight, then they can keep it for entertainment.

As for the "legitimate" reason to keep fighting, revenge culture exists with or without it, so that argument is thin to begin with. Any intent to injure has to be punished with extreme prejudice. Questionably "accidental" injury to an opponent should be punished progressively. In order for that to happen, there has to be strict application and adherence to the rules. That means calling EVERY penalty until the players learn and evolve. Facewashing, slashing, shoving after the whistle, even excessive body checking, all need to be called. The game would be significantly different and it would take years to breed those behaviors out. It's never going to happen. The league doesn't want it, traditionalists don't like it, and fans would mostly be against it as well.

Imagine 10 years of games, where 50% or more was spent on special teams and double digit scores were a regular occurrence. That's what it would take to get fighting out of the game and you would reduce injuries in the process. Newer generations would grow to a game where skill, speed, and discipline, were the key components, and they would adapt and reinforce those elements. The NHL however, wants to continue paying neanderthals with sticks millions of dollars to endanger the livelihood of the players that people actually want to watch. For every one person that tunes in to see a player like Reaves, there are thousands who are more interested in seeing a McDavid or Crosby, so it makes sense to adapt the game in a way which further features those skilled players.

If you're getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions, to play a sport AND keep your temper in check, and you can't do it, they should throw you out on your ass. All they have to do is decide that keeping your temper in check is a condition of your employment, just like almost every other business in the world with a respectable HR department.

I get your point, but it's not like fights are happening all the time. They happen less than ever and are clearly being phased out of the game gradually. Skill and speed are more prevalent than ever in today's game. But physicality in general is as integral to the game as anything else and as long as you have dirty players like Kadri and Marchand, there needs to be some sort of recourse to keep them in line.

Well, the solution is giving players longer suspensions. The DOPS is run by George Parros, who had over 2 penalty minutes per game on average in his career.

I have no issue with it if both combatants willingly drop the gloves.

But it slows the game down anyway. And if the players aren't smart enough to not fight, then the league should do something about that.

Whether a player is "smart enough" to fight or not is irreverent. Their grown men and makes their own choices. If a guy whose never has fought wants to drop his gloves and go with one of the NHL's heavyweights, then so be it that his choice.

The players overwhelming support fighting in the game.

But they shouldn't.

Who cares? Players have still gotten concussions from fighting and they do it because usually nobody gets injured. The league needs to just get rid of it because why let players punch each other in the face multiple times? This is hockey we're talking about.

They can get concussions from a check, should we take checking out too?

To the head? Yes, that should be taken out. Or anything involving the head. If you hit someone head-first into the boards there should be a suspension, and a long one (unless it was something like Foegele's hit on Oshie, where it was more of an unlucky play).

You made it pretty clear your just going to disagree with anyone who doesn't agree with you, so have fun

Well, if someone comes up with what i think is a good reason to keep fighting, i'll agree with them. I just don't think there are any good reasons.

except you in a previous post literally said "whatever reason you come up with for why it should be in the game I will disagree with"

With exceptions if someone can come up with a GOOD reason, but I don't think anyone will come up with a good reason.