You wanna go, huh?

Like it or not, fighting has been part of hockey for too long to be eliminated. In a fast sport with ever-bigger players in a small rink with constant physical contact, there will always be fights.

The NHL has imposed new penalties and sanctions that have eliminated bench-clearing fights of the past. Fighting is now more controlled and it seems to be working.

In Europe, where fighting is generally not tolerated, frustrations on the ice are often vented through dirty stick-work behind the referees back. The NHL should not go that way.

Ken Dryden, president and GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs, has been a vocal proponent for eliminating the fights.

Larry Robinson, coach of the Los Angeles Kings and a friend of Dryden's, disagreed with his former teammate.

"Is it realistic? No. But I don't think it should be glorified, such as the rematch between McCarty and Lemieux." Robinson said.

As Conn Smythe, boss of the Maple Leafs, said in the 1930s, "We've got to stamp out this kind of thing or people will keep buying tickets.".