Re:

Bruins sneak past Leafs — March 5

What a perfect picture of the usual NHL thugs and their pathetic pugilistic activities. Many thanks to The Record’s sports editor for making it dramatically obvious in Friday’s half-page picture why so many Canadians no longer want to watch NHL (or OHL) hockey matches.

After two weeks of admiring the finest of professional hockey players from around the world comply with Olympic rules — rules that control senseless, potentially career-ending checks and fights, and rules that lead to displays of skating and puck-handling magic — the NHL is back with its same old gladiatorial displays.

It is truly a sad commentary on the state of this sport when even our sports journalists buy into the myth that the public needs or wants violence in what could and should be a contest of skill, fitness and finesse.