Violence in Hockey Today

There is no shortage of opinions regarding whether or not violence in hockey should be curbed. Certainly the NHL, the fans and the players would all like to see incidents such as the Bertuzzi-Moore fiasco eliminated from the game. Some fans would go further, but that approach may not be realistic. All physical, contact sports will be inherently aggressive. That aggression will naturally boil over from time to time. Players need to be able to vent their pent-up aggression in ways that are not detrimental to the well-being of other players, and for the most part fights and hits achieve that end.

The ultraviolent incidents, however, can be addressed by eliminating some of the most violent aspects of hockey. The Canadian cultural trait of disrespect towards referees was noted by Pascall (2000), and he also noted that minor league players take strong behavioural cues from professional...
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