(Photo taken by Melissa Grissom)

NHL players always say the same thing: the three things that get fans to their feet are goals, hits, and fights. So one thing that is always a given in the NHL are the goals or otherwise how are you supposed to win? So that leaves hits and fights, last season the Dallas Stars finished with 28 fighting majors the lowest total in the history of the franchise, and players leading in fighting majors were Jake Dowell with nine and Steve Ott in second with six. One big reason for the big drop in fighting majors was the departure of Krys Barch in early December who had been the Stars resident tough guy since his arrival in the 2006-2007 season. Now a look at the Stars roster you won’t really have a “tough” team as far as when it comes to dropping the gloves as they have more of a skill lineup since the two players who led the Stars in fighting majors last season, Dowell and Ott, have been moved or have moved on to other teams. So that leaves the question is fighting necessary for an NHL teams success and are enforcers necessary?

Alongside fights, headshots have been the question of controversy the past few seasons as well. So much that the NHL hired Brendan Shanahan as the Czar of discipline regarding player safety. Shanahan this year held nothing back as numerous players whether they were a star player or just a role player felt the hammer come down on them with suspensions on questionable hits or plays that endangered another players health. So another question is can headshots be completely taken out of the game.

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