The sport of hockey is again grappling with the issue of grappling, and being forced to choose between what is right and what people want.
Brawling is back, and let's not kid ourselves, fans love it On Feb. 3, the Bruins and Dallas Stars staged a YouTube dream - three fights in the game's first four seconds.
Last week's Bruins-Canadiens melee had 187 penalty minutes and produced hockey's version of Comedy Central, a bout between goalies Tim Thomas and Carey Price.
On Friday, the Islanders and Penguins took it up (or down) a notch. Pittsburgh owner Mario Lemieux called the game, which had 346 penalty minutes, 15 fighting majors and 20 misconducts, a travesty.
The NHL suspended two Islanders and fined New York $100,00. Lemieux called this so inadequate that he said if this is what the NHL is about, he would have to consider getting out of it.
The NHL is back at a crossroads it visits every so often. The old arguments that fights are inevitable because hockey is so fast, violent and instantaneous are debunked every time we watch the Olympics.
The sport's other myth is that for all their theatrics, nobody really gets hurt in hockey fights. Goalie fights, which are singularly unnecessary, are known more for their hilarity than their violence.
Yet on Feb. 2, the Penguins' Brent Johnson knocked out the Isles' Rick DiPietro for four to six weeks with facial fractures.
On Friday, New York forward Trevor Gillies elbowed and punched Pens' winger Eric Tangradi, who later experienced concussion symptoms. That may be the tipping point.
the NHL is confronting the broader problem of head injuries, which has sidelined Sidney Crosby and jeopardized Bruins' forward Marc Savard's career.
No longer can the league look the other way while players punch each other in the face, then say it is concerned about concussions.
Anyone who thinks fans don't like fights, though, has not been to a game. Lemieux is being called a hero in some quarters, and at least a rational voice in many others, but he's also been called infantile.
But because he is Mario Lemieux, the NHL can't ignore him. He has had a tremendous impact on the league in the past.
In 1992, Lemieux called the NHL a "garage league'' that let inferior players get away with holding and hooking the most exciting stars, obviously including himself. It took 13 years, but in 2005, the NHL came up with rules that made for a cleaner, wide-open game which showcased the great skaters and skill players, and punished the pushers and plodders.
Unfortunately, there are not that many Mario Lemieux types out there. Call them enforcers, protectors or goons, but scores of guys are out there, making a living the only way they can - by being tough in a sport where their duties as policemen or fighters makes up for their inability to keep up with the speed guys.
Fewer of those types exist these days. Teams can no longer afford giving roster spots to sluggers who can't play; instead, they look for guys in the mold of former Wayne Gretzky guardian Marty McSorley - a slugger who can play.
The NHL has tried to eliminate bench-clearing brawling, if not individual fighting, more than its critics admit. Several players say the recent spate of brawls is more of a coincidence than a trend.
But even if the NHL will never satisfy Lemieux's sense of hockey purity, it has to reel this problem in. Players today are bigger and stronger, their punches pack more wallop, and the risk of serious injury is rising.
Two years ago, an amateur player in Toronto named Don Sanderson died after his helmet came off and his head hit the ice during a fight. It was a fluke, but it happened and could happen again.
Before dismissing Lemieux as a Pollyanna, his critics should think of that. So should the NHL, before a similar tragedy occurs.