London Knights GM and coach Mark Hunter, one of the brightest guys in Canadian major junior hockey, has seen the writing on the wall and is OK with it: Fighting is on the way out in teenage hockey, even at the highest levels.
Hunter tells the hometown London Free Press he's been on both sides of the issue, but the bottom line is protecting young athletes and, as we understand more about head injuries, we've confirmed what should have been obvious all along: Blows to the head from fists can cause concussions with life-long ramifications.
Eliminating or reducing fighting would follow the lead of university hockey rules, using significant suspensions.
The comments from Hunter are no small matter, given the family's professional hockey pedigree. Hunter's brother, Dale, is the former coach of the Knights and now coaches the NHL's Washington Capitals. As a player, Dale Hunter committed one of the most brutal on-ice assaults in the history of the game against Pierre Turgeon of the New York Islanders.
Hunter tells the hometown London Free Press he's been on both sides of the issue, but the bottom line is protecting young athletes and, as we understand more about head injuries, we've confirmed what should have been obvious all along: Blows to the head from fists can cause concussions with life-long ramifications.
Eliminating or reducing fighting would follow the lead of university hockey rules, using significant suspensions.
The comments from Hunter are no small matter, given the family's professional hockey pedigree. Hunter's brother, Dale, is the former coach of the Knights and now coaches the NHL's Washington Capitals. As a player, Dale Hunter committed one of the most brutal on-ice assaults in the history of the game against Pierre Turgeon of the New York Islanders.
