Bertuzzi Suspension

[DeeBye]

Why is hockey an inherently voilent game? It's because people think that it is.

Hockey is inherently violent because it's a game in which big and strong players skate around at incredible speed in a confined space and are allowed by rule to hit each other. People think hockey is violent because it is violent.

If you take the violence (the clean kind of violence, not the cheap stuff) out of hockey, you would be taking the essence out of the game.

There is no need for the violence in hockey, it's there because the bloodthirsty fans enjoy it.

There is no need for violence in the NFL either. They should just play touch football.

There is no need for excessive speed in auto racing. They would be safer driving 25 MPH.

There is no need for 100 MPH fastballs in MLB. They should throw slow underhands.

There is no need for boxing at all. People shouldn't punch each other.

I enjoy hockey, but I'm not bloodthirsty. I don't like seeing players seriously injured. That being said, if you take the danger out of hockey (indeed, all sports) you will be stripping it of everything that makes it worthwhile.

Gretzky could be argueably the best player ever, and how many fights was he in?

Gretzky was in one hockey fight that I know of.

Gretzky didn't fight after that because he had Semenko at his side. Semenko made sure that no one took cheap shots at Gretzky. It can be argued that Semenko's protective presence allowed Gretzky to show off his stuff.

Honestly, if you took the violence out of hockey, the game would improve dramatically, the fan base would thin a bit to no great loss, and people would enjoy it all the more.

I disagree with this entire statement. In fact, it doesn't even make sense. Why would the fan base thin out when the game would be "improved"?