Toronto Maple Leafs: Violence Is Not Part Of The Game

With the amount of current and former players now battling with post-concussion syndrome, teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs need to rally together to take the violence out of hockey.

Gary Bettman is destroying the game that we all love and it is not because of rules like the instigator rule, but because he still allows fighting and hitting despite how many players are now battling with PCS.

When you see many former players suing the league because of concussions, you know there is a serious problem. All teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, need to start protecting their players more and that involves taking hitting and fighting out of the NHL.

This is hockey, not MMA. These players want to play the game they grew up loving, not sit on the sidelines because they can not see straight. Hockey is a very fast paced sport and having guys literally throw their bodies at one another causes serious injuries to one another.

When talking about hockey, people think about Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid. Skilled players, the best in the world, not Zac Rinaldo or Matt Cooke. Players that probably would have never been in the NHL if it was not for the violent style they played.

You do not see players like Auston Matthews play aggressively because they want to play hockey, not fight some goon who should not even be in the NHL, to begin with. Some of the best players the NHL has ever seen have not been able to reach the potential they should have because of concussions. One example of this is Eric Lindros.

Deemed as the best player since Wayne Gretzky, Lindros was supposed to be one of the best players to ever play the game. Instead, he only played in 760 games because he was never able to play in a full 82 game season. A once amazing player had his career derailed because he was injured, a lot, and what was the main injury problem he had? Concussions.

Even Sidney Crosby has had his career derailed to some extent because of the concussions he has suffered. In fact, for the first time in his career, Crosby played a full 82 games this past season. The best player over the last decade never played a full 82 game season until this past season.

Just think about that. He is supposed to be the face of our league. The Lebron James, Lionel Messi, Derek Jeter, Tom Brady of hockey. And yet, concussions have affected his career.

Hockey Will Not Become Soccer

Many people try to argue and say that if fighting and hitting are taken out of hockey, then players will dive like soccer players do because there will be no punishment for doing so. That will not be the case if the NHL uses their brain for once and makes rules to stop that from happening.

If the NHL puts in a rule that severely punishes players for diving, handing out possible suspensions, large fines towards the player and their team, do you think players would continue to dive?

No, they would not. There is a way to take out hitting and fighting while also keeping diving out of the game and that is the way to do it.

I, as a fan of the game, as somebody who has battled with my own concussions and the problems that have come with it nine years later, want the violence out of the game and I bet many players want the same result.

Keep the violence out of hockey.