Combat sports are an accepted parts of society, if it is done by consenting adults under the right sanctioning and medical supervision.

Hockey at the junior level are played by amateur teenagers between the ages of 16-20. In the CHL, USHL, and NAHL, the leagues sanction vigilante violence between underage teenagers who are often initiating the assault under the direction of the coaches or under the peer pressure of the "hockey code". It is neither consenting, nor properly sanctioned, furthermore it is done by teenagers who are not even old enough to drink or vote.

Most of these teenagers will not go on to a pro contract yet they are taking risks often not in fully informed, uncoerced settings. Now that we have a better awareness of the seriousness of repeated blows to the head, there can be no justification for this unnecessary risk. These teenage amateur players do not have a generous six figure salary, nor adequate long-term disability insurance should they get injured. It would be immoral to allow them to be subjected to such unnecessary risks for the pleasure of entertaining the crowd.

Lastly, we want hockey to have a positive image, an image that young players can look up to and learn the values of teamwork, perseverance, and sportsmanship. It is very unsportsmanlike for athletes to grab jerseys and start exchanging haymakers because they are "pissed off".

If you look around the world, no other country outside of North America allows fighting to be only penalized by a 5 minute penalty at the junior level. It is usually harshly penalized by a game misconduct followed by suspensions. This is in line with the penalty during international play such as the world junior championship, college, and European pro hockey. Let's improve junior hockey's safety and image by increasing the penalty for fighting.