Anybody been following the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs? Usually you don't see fighting during playoff games, but so far the playoff games have been littered with ugly protracted fights; disgusting, illegal hits and retaliations; and several key players knocked out of games and usually longer from such hits. A lot of it has been in the Flyers-Penguins series, but it is so widespread that it is becoming a serious problem for the league. They have to get a handle on this and figure out a way to minimize this stuff.

What is such a shame is that the NHL is building serious momentum, particularly in big markets such as NY, Philadelphia and L.A., and this has the potential to slow down some of that momentum. The league should want more public attention - but not for this reason and not at the expense of the well-being of its players.