Hockey Nova Scotia official says fighting has no place in the sport

The executive director of Hockey Nova Scotia says fighting has no place in the sport — and not just at the minor league level, but eventually the NHL.

Darren Cossar spoke with CBC's Mainstreet Halifax after the recent release of 2011 emails between high-ranking officials in the NHL, in which they discuss the possible health effects of fighting and concussions but deny publicly that fighting was a problem.

Cossar says he has worked hard over the last decade to eliminate as much fighting as possible from minor hockey.

He says in any given season, up to 20,000 minor hockey league games are played in Nova Scotia and during all those games, there are only about 25 to 50 fights.

Cossar said that change has come about because of a shift in thinking away from violence by players, parents, coaches and officials.

"Having our officials strongly enforce the rules and call the rules as they are in the rulebook, which in many cases de-escalates situations before they end up in fighting," he said.

Strict fighting penalties

Cossar says fighting in minor hockey results in a game misconduct penalty, which means the player is out for that game and one more. A player is suspended indefinitely after three fights in a season.

He says minor hockey players look up to skilled players such as Sidney Crosby as role models, not those who make their living with their fists.

Cossar said he believes there's strong evidence that repeated exposure to violence is not good for a player's health. 

"That's something that we want to make sure that when athletes leave our care in the minor sport level, that fighting is not acceptable and they haven't been doing it," he said.

Cossar's remarks are in stark contrast with a column recently written in the Globe and Mail by Bobby Smith, the majority owner of the Halifax Mooseheads, a team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Smith said he believes fighting plays an important role in the sport because it provides a consequence for players tempted to take a cheap shot on the ice or harm another player.

Smith quoted Bobby Orr's autobiography that said: "at the pro level, you need to be held accountable for your actions, and the threat of a fight can accomplish that."

An NHL without fighting

Cossar disagrees. He said the rules simply need to be enforced by officials.

"If you call all the hooking, the grabbing, the cheap punches after the whistle — if those are called to the T and people understand that they won't be tolerated, then in most cases, incidents won't escalate to a point where a fight erupts," said Cossar.

He's confident one day there will be an NHL without fighting.

"It's only a matter of time before the general public and the game itself will mandate it," said Cossar.