Fighting in Hockey: Even Don Cherry Doesn't Understand Why It's Part of the Game

At any given moment in any given game, any player can end the season of another with one swing of their stick.

Hockey is a sport which requires bursts of controlled chaos a half-minute at a time. Any player at any time can give and receive a number of punishing blows.

Through a shift, a period, and a game, the physical and emotional intensity inevitably heightens to a point at which the tension of the conflict has to give way to the resolution of the conflict.

So do the players risk their careers with injury and/or suspension by turning their sticks to weapons and attack each other?

No. Two professional fighters square-off at centre ice and pound on each other in a collective catharsis for both teams and rabid fans alike.

When the fight produces a winner both professionals skate away uninjured and the game continues.

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