While Violence in hockey has been on the rise a professor at Western University says this season is a turning point.
Peter Jaffe, a Professor at Center Of Violence Against Women And Children says this is the first year many NHL teams have not resigned their “Goons”.
Jaffe says there have been a lot of concerns over the dangers of fighting with concussions over the years.
NHL teams have done analysis and teams that have four effective lines that are strong skating and scoring potential make a big difference compared to players that are only there for fighting.
Over the years we have also seen deaths in enforcers related to many problems including their history in fighting
Jaffe believes it’s unfair to the players that get drafted into the OHL or NHL just because they are an enforcer and it sends a bad message to younger children who are looking up to these players and how to get into these leagues.
Jaffe says there have been concerns the past few years about fighting in hockey especially after a gentleman died in a senior men’s league and because of deaths of enforces fighting has decreased over the year.
Although people may argue fighting is a part of hockey, Olympic and College go without fighting so it is possible to play hockey without fighting
Many fans were fed up with arranged fight where clearly the fight really has nothing to do with the play and it was staged and it doesn’t have a place in hockey
Jaffe believes the NHL and OHL were slow to control violence but there have been a lot of progress recently.
Jaffe says it’s time to get back to roots and focus on the skill.