In the middle of a fight, which is only legal in some hockey leagues, tragedy hit. Don Sanderson, playing for the Whitby Dunlops of the Ontario Hockey Organization, struck his head on the ice in the middle of a fight on December 12, 2008. He would die three would short weeks later. Not only is fighting in hockey dangerous, but it has no business in a sport that should be more about skating and trying to score goals. Fighting has no purpose in the sport of hockey, and should be made illegal in every league on all levels across the world.
    Currently, fighting is banned in many minor leagues, including the Ontario and Canadian University leagues and in hockey governed by the International Hockey Federation (IHF). Only in some leagues in North America, such as the National Hockey League (NHL) is fighting even legal. The people that state the NHL could not survive without fighting are making a foolhardy argument, as the Olympics which hosts the world’s most important hockey games, bars fighting in competition. The Olympic hockey games destroy the NHL in ratings, as the most recent Olympic final almost tripled the rating of the highest rated game in the Stanley Cup final. When people watch Olympic games, many comment on how clean the sport is played. The same cannot be said for the NHL.
    The truth is, though, that while the NHL would likely still be able to survive without fighting, the reason it still exists in the game is because leagues like the NHL believe it helps draw fans (even though as stated before that belief is a myth). There is no question that this is a very sad and disappointing reason to have a rule in the sport. The fact is that fighting really has nothing to do with the sport of hockey. Hockey is supposed to be about passing the puck down the ice and trying to score goals. Whoever scores the most points at the end of the last period wins the game, not whoever throws the most punches.
    Fans often argue that hockey is a physical sport, and allowing fights should just be part of that. Well, football is just as physical, if not more physical, of a sport as hockey, and this sport does just fine without allowing fighting. In fact, football referees are quick to penalize any unnecessary contact to try and prevent any fights from occurring. Basketball and soccer also involve much physicality, and yet both of those sports do not allow fighting. There is a sport called boxing where two people punch each other in the face for several rounds. Fighting is its own sport, and does not belong as part of another.
    When it comes down to it, fans must ask themselves what is more important, entertainment or people’s lives? Not only does it make no sense for fighting to be a part of hockey in the first place, but people’s lives are being ruined by fighting being legalized. Just two years ago, a man died due to a fight in a hockey game, and many injuries result each year from these fights. All fights do is take away from the point of the sport, and they have no business being a part of hockey.