The fighting debate in hockey.

Yawn! Here we go again. The NHL GM's are down at their annual meeting in Florida talking about various issues and one of them is the subject of staged fights in hockey and hits to the head. Personally, I can't ever see the NHL without fighting, and it probably will never happen, not any time soon anyways. Also, I wonder why people can't leave well enough alone as well.

Of course there are always going to be a few people that are going to be appalled at fighting in the National Hockey League but for the most part a lot of those those people don't understand fighting role in hockey. Fighting is a method of policing the game and keeping people honest. Here is what a few people had to say about fighting in the NHL.

NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly, who addressed the GMs for an hour Monday morning, said the players support fighting in the game. The skilled players like it because they believe having someone in their lineup capable of handling himself in a fight provides a measure of security for them. Enforcers like it, naturally, because it provides them with a job.

"The players' view is fighting actually does play an important role in the sport," Kelly said. "Players believe that fighting, to a large degree, does cut down on some of the violence in the sport, it does cut down on the stick work and other play. It protects the star players, the smaller players."

Here is what Brian Burke GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs had to say about "staged fights" in professional hockey. You have got to love Brian Burke he says it like he sees it.

"Staged fighting. I see that phrase a lot," Burke said. "You'll see two guys line up off the face off and they're yapping, and then they fight and everyone says, 'Oh, it's a staged fight.' When I was playing in the American League, I went up to a guy in a game who speared me two years before that when I was playing university hockey.

"So, anyone else upstairs would say it's a staged fight. Well, it wasn't a staged fight. I was going to get this guy, and I was going to get him the first time I was on the ice with him. And after the incident, he yelled at me, 'What was that all about?' And I told him, I said, 'You got me two years ago, and I didn't get a chance to get you for two years.' It's not always a staged fight."

Did he win the fight?

"Yeah, I did win the fight," Burke said. "Dave Lumley. Go ask him. He speared me in the back of the leg."

Here is what Jarome Iginla has to say about the subject of fighting in Hockey. I agree is Iggy without fighting in the NHL there would be a lot more stick work and liberties taken on games star players.

Without fighting, there would definitely be more stick work, some more cheap shots and cheap hits. Fighting keeps people accountable—they know there is the threat of a fight if things get too carried away.”

—Calgary Flames forward Jarome Iginla