There was a time when fighting when used in your context, to get a team going was accepted. Now fighting, especially at the high school level is not worth the risk. A 2 game suspension for fighting, is not worth it. Solid body checks and clean physical hockey is a better way to motivate your team. Where is the reward for fighting?? With cages and helmets as protection, all you could get are some broken bones!

AGREED "Mac2"!!!

Fighting is a part of hockey and as kids get older the physical play gets increased and that includes fighting. I feel the 5 game suspension is completely rediculous in that the length is way to long. I dont't think a 5 min major or 10 min misconduct is right either but what is wrong with the player being tossed for the rest of the remaining game if the fight happens in the first two periods and if a fight is in the third period the player has to sit out the whole next game. Or maybe something like that because 5 games is way too long of time is 1/4 of the whole season and that is not fair.

Like Mac2 said a well placed fight is part of hockey and can boost the teams morale and can swing momentum. It is now highschool hockey and the boys need to become men and we can not keep babying these players along saying that they might get hurt because truth be told injuries happen more frequently from blocking shots and taking hard body checks.

I am not suggesting fighting should be allowed in the NHL but the penalty shoud be drastically reduced.

Sorry "MikeC" but you are wrong. 4 out of every 5 NHL games there is atleast one fight. The only thing they gotten away from is bench clearing brawls and the tugging and holding and pulling that the big not as quick or skilled guys used to get away with. And hockey is hockey, the schools do not sanction it so there for the rules are up to this league not what the schools think. And how do you say the rules are working MikeC. The only thing the kids are not doing is squaring up with their helmets off instead there is more cheap shots and more things that happen after the games as the kids are going to the locker rooms and fights outside and what not. The boys need to be boys, and if that means they go toe to toe CLEANLY instead of someone getting drilled from behind than so be it. There is nothing wrong with that. And for your information the fan base gets less and less each year and game. There are now two games a year that are heavily attended and they are Cherokee v. Shawnee and Township v. Clearview. Those games go crazy because there is a lot of physicality meaning the scraping in front of the net and after the whistle. Not because high school students love to watch clean pretty hockey. These boys need to be let off the leesh.