Most Canadians Want Fighting Banned from Hockey

Just as many also think that most head shots in the NHL are avoidable.

A poll for The Globe and Mail finds that 63 per cent of Canadians want fighting banned from the NHL, and the same amount think that head shots are almost always intentional and that the league needs to do more to prevent them. Granted, only 45 per cent of people who consider themselves "avid" hockey fans want to see fighting done away with, but that's still an increase of five percentage points from a similar poll that was taken in March. As far as head shots go, 59 per cent of avid fans feel that they're intentional, and when you watch hits such as this one or this one then, yeah, you can see how so many come to that conclusion. The NHL's new chief disciplinarian, Brendan Shanahan, has laid out stringent new rules on what hits are legal, and has already doled out hefty suspensions and fines for a slew of questionable hits in the preseason.

In other hockey news, Sidney Crosby has been cleared for contact in practices after missing more than half of last season with a concussion. This means that Crosby is all but ready to return to the ice full-time, and some are expecting him to draw into the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup as soon as next week.