Hall-of-Famer decries fighting

Link:

In an exclusive interview with TheHockeyNews.com, Hall-of-Fame defenceman Serge Savard reiterated a stance he's had since he was a young member of the Montreal Canadiens: fighting has no place in the game.

"It's 2007, and when I hear (NHL commissioner Gary) Bettman say fighting is part of the game, that's the way people were thinking 30 years ago," Savard said. "I like Bettman, but I'm disappointed to hear that. I didn't expect a comment like that after all those rule changes.

"(The league is) going backward. With the new rules, I really thought we were going forward."

[ . . . ]

Savard recognizes it is impossible to completely eliminate fighting from the sport. But he has never seen a legitimate role for players whose only skill is fighting.

"You can live with the spontaneous fight," he said. "That's something that can happen between brothers, two kids getting into a fight because of an argument. But you don't want the designated hitter. That's my view."

I couldn't agree more.