Which ones are punishable by law?
 
1. An on-ice bench clearing brawl where several players are seriously hurt
when their nuckles are bruised from hitting other players' helmets.
2. A hit from behind (illegal play) which causes the player delivering the hit
a permanent loss of motor ability.
3. A charging player, with the strategy of stopping a goal from being scored,
throws an opponent off his feet and then the charging player's head rebounds
off the goal post and into the boards resulting in a severe grade three concussion.
4.  A player's stick jams into the boards (at the Zamboni entrance) and it
plunges into his gut, resulting in severe abdominal tears.
5.  Two players sandwich an opponent against the boards, rough him up, knock
his helmet off, and send him crashing onto the ice head first and then go
after the referee who did not call a penalty because they were told by their
coach that they'd be sent to the minors if their PIMs were not increased; and
given that PIMs are the reason these guys can maintain the current standard of
living of their families, the referee was obviously taking away the ability of
their kids to attend private school and their wifes to vacation in the Bahamas.
 
Now of course if your only interest is punishing violent outcomes, then the
first four are all guilty. However if you are afraid of violent outcomes, then
take up figure skating.
 
Nathan Eric Hampton
 
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