It all started with one punch. No one can pin point exactly when it first started, but somewhere down the line, someone decided to start what has become a tradition in hockey. Fighting. Tanya Thomas states " Don Cherry would be very proud of today's generation." ( http://www.snn-rdr.ca/snn/2003feb/hockey.html ) Don Cherry, a Canadian icon, encourages rough play and has even released 10+ videos of his favorite hits from around the league. With how players these days put violence and toughness ahead of skill and finess it makes one wonder. Is hockey based on potential players also needing to depend on their fighting abilities?

It's late in a game, the other team seems to be dominating every aspect and you are looking for some way to swing momentum to your side. A tactic many coaches use these days is to send out their "enforcer " and let him head hunt the other teams best players. It has become a regularity for every team in the National Hockey League and lower leagues to carry a player on their team to fulfill to role of "enforcer" An enforcer is definded as "one whose job it is to execute unpleasant tasks for a superior" by Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=enforcer) , but isn't it ironic that the reason some teams carry these players is to protect themselves from other teams enforcers from injuring their best players? In the NHL season of 2003-2004, a game seemed to be all but lost for the Colorado Avalanche. Steve Moore, in his rookie season decides to take matters into his own hands and delivers a cheap shot hit to Markus Naslund, the Vancouver Canucks captain and best player. Naslund went down and was injured because of the hit and had to leave the game. In other cases this has happened and the villian walked away free because the victim skates away unharmed. In this paticular case, Steve Moore returned to the bench before retaliation from the Canuck's enforcer could be given and Bob Hartley benches Moore to ensure he doesn't get hurt. This ultimately fustrates the Canucks players. That night during the press coverage of the game, "Brad May declares a bounty on Moore; the coach, by staying silent gives his tactic approval; the media laps it up; the fans are riled." ( Jamie Fitzpatrick- Cultivating Todd Bertuzzi May 11, 2004) and this sets the stage for the events that would take place a couple weeks later. In a rematch of the two teams Moore was struck from behind by a punishing fist of a much larger and stronger Todd Bertuzzi. Moore emmidiately went down unconscious and within seconds everyone on the ice was paired up with another player fighting, attempting to justify their sides. When order was restored, Moore was carried off the ice in a stretcher, still unconscious and had suffered from a broken neck and cracked vertebraes. Some believe the Instigator Penalty is to blame for hooligan incidents like this. The rule states "A player who is deemed to be the instigator of an altercation shall be assessed an instigating minor penalty, a major for fighting and a ten minute misconduct." (http://www.nhl.com/rules/rule56.html) a total of 17 minutes in penalties. Players don't want to hurt their team more by fighting and recieving the instigator penalty so they decide to let things go to ensure nothing happens. Without this rule, the Canucks would have settled their score emmidiately with Moore. After hitting Naslund with a cheap shot a couple weeks earlier, Moore would have had to stand up and take a fist in the face and juctice would be served, at least in the players eyes, and everyone would move on. Instead, the Canucks were left to boil for several weeks, which only amplified the pressure to retaliate and stick up for their injured teammate. That's how the arguement goes anyway. But beyond the Bertuzzi case, all this circles around a much larger issue. Bloody hockey is dear to the fans.