NHL Regular Season is Almost Watchable

The NHL regular season is so close to being watchable, they just need to pull the trigger on one final piece. You got it, fighting. NHL fighting numbers are slowly deteriorating; now they need to go away forever.

I like watching the NHL playoffs, college hockey, high school hockey, and olympic hockey. One of the great things about the game of hockey is the physical play. I like a hard hitting, clean checking game. This is what I find illogical about fighting in the NHL;

1. Some might say the NHL needs fighting because it protects its star players. Why should star players be exempt from physical play? Let’s not treat star players like NFL quarterbacks. If a check on a star player is clean and legal, we should be okay with that. If a check on a star player is dirty and illegal, a penalty should be called.
2. Some might say the NHL needs fighting because the fans like it. It’s possible the NHL could lose the fan that says ‘I pay money to watch a fight and a hockey game breaks out’. I would argue the NHL would gain more fans that like to watch the best players in the world preform. When a fight breaks out you’ll see most fans jump to their feet and start cheering. This is not an indication the NHL should continue to allow fighting. If a tornado suddenly appeared heading straight for my house, I would jump to my feet with emotion and go outside to film it. This is not an indication I like having my house destroyed by a tornado.
3. Some might say the NHL needs fighting because it gives teams a spark when they’re not playing with energy. Hey, I’ve got an idea how to give teams a spark. Score a goal.

I’ll give you one more illogical nugget about the NHL. Why do players not wear face masks? Years ago goalies didn’t wear face masks, now we would think that’s insane. Hockey players wear face mask while they play youth hockey, high school hockey, and college hockey. Thankfully, most players are now wearing a shield to protect their eyes. The league office needs to decide to protect their players. Players won’t put a mask on if it’s not mandated because they don’t want to look week.