In today’s sports section there’s a photo of two professional hockey players throwing punches in the middle of a game while thousands of fans cheer around them.
It’s treated as entertainment. Sometimes even as tradition.
But it raises a simple question:
What message are we sending?
Seeing photos like this also raises another question.
Hockey is a fast, skillful sport filled with remarkable athleticism. Yet when newspapers or sports websites choose an image from a game, it is often the moment when two players are throwing punches.
It’s worth asking whether that’s really the image of the sport we most want to highlight — especially for young fans who may be watching.
A Hockey Fan’s Perspective
I grew up in Buffalo, New York.
For those who remember that era, I had season tickets to watch the Buffalo Sabres during the days of the legendary French Connection line — Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, and René Robert. The arena was electric and the hockey was fast, skilled, and exciting.
Years later, after moving to Florida, I once again became a season ticket holder — this time for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
I loved the game.
Of course, there was fighting back then too. It was part of hockey culture and something fans accepted as part of the sport. When I went to games in Buffalo, I was going with other adults. We watched the game through the eyes of fans who loved the action and intensity.
But I never really stopped to think about what it looked like to the outside world.
Or how it might look through the eyes of a child.
That realization came one night at a Lightning game.
The Game I Never Went Back To
When my son was about six or seven years old, I took him to a Lightning game. Our seats were very close to the ice.
At one point during the game, two players dropped their gloves and started throwing punches.
The crowd erupted. And the fight happened right in front of us.
I remember looking at my young son sitting next to me. And I suddenly had a different thought than I had ever had at a hockey game before.
“What exactly is the lesson here?”
That was the last hockey game I ever attended.
Kids Are Watching
Over the years I’ve spent time mentoring students through the Lunch Pals program in our local schools. Spending time with kids — especially those navigating difficult situations — reinforces how important role models and examples really are.
Young people watch sports. They admire athletes.
And when fighting becomes part of the spectacle, the message is subtle but powerful:
Violence can be part of competition
Fighting can be entertaining
Conflict can be settled with fists
I don’t think these are the lessons most of us hope kids take away.
The Game Is Great Without It
Modern hockey is fast, skilled, and thrilling to watch. The sport doesn’t need fighting to be entertaining.
Many international competitions — including Olympic hockey — limit fighting far more strictly, and the games are still spectacular.
And when you think about it, hockey is almost unique among major professional sports in allowing fighting to become part of the game.
In professional basketball, if a player throws a punch at another player, he is immediately ejected — and often fined or suspended.
In professional football, where the sport is clearly rough and physical, throwing a punch leads to the same result: ejection, fines, and often suspensions.
In baseball, when players leave the dugout and fights break out, the umpires quickly eject the players involved and the league frequently hands down suspensions.
No one seems to mind watching those sports without fighting as part of the entertainment.
Which raises a simple question:
If the sport doesn’t need fighting, why keep it?
What We Celebrate Matters
Sports shape culture. They influence how young people think about competition, teamwork, and respect.
Strength isn’t about throwing punches. It’s about discipline, resilience, and character.
Those are the values worth celebrating — on the ice and everywhere else.
Sometimes it takes seeing something through the eyes of a child to notice what adults have stopped questioning.
The lessons kids absorb from what adults celebrate often last far longer than the game itself.
So here’s a question:
If fighting disappeared from professional hockey tomorrow, would the game really be worse — or would it finally reflect the values we say we want our kids to learn?
Home Runs Matter explores ideas that shape the future of our community — from civic leadership to the values we pass on to the next generation.
