The game of hockey is increasingly having to answer some tough questions.

On-ice incidents continue to make their way to the courts and have grabbed serious media attention: Marty McSorley hitting Donald Brashear in the head with his stick in 2000 and being found guilty of assault with a weapon. Todd Bertuzzi slamming Steve Moore into the ice, resulting in a guilty verdict for assault causing bodily harm in 2004.

The trial of former Victoria Salmon Kings tough guy Robin Gomez wrapped last week here with a not guilty verdict. These are only three incidents among dozens over the past decade.

Gomez, 27, punched fellow ECHL player Chris Ferraro – a Las Vegas Wranglers player – during a 2007-08 regular season game. Provincial court Judge Mike Hubbard found that the punch (available for viewing online at vicnews.com) was “within the scope of the game of hockey.” He felt that Gomez’s punch was a measured response to the trash-talking by Ferraro that took place seconds before the incident.

Adam Proteau, a writer and columnist for The Hockey News, was following the case and was surprised by the verdict. He disagreed with the ruling, but agreed with Hubbard’s comment that hockey would be better off without fighting.

“I think (the verdict) sends the wrong message,” Proteau said. “It tells people that this is OK, this is something that is accepted within the game of hockey.”

He spoke at length about the “old guard” of leadership within the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association being very protective of fighting and its place within the game. That, despite incidents like the one that saw Don Sanderson, a 21-year-old defenceman with the Senior AAA Whitby (Ont.) Dunlops, die 18 days after hitting his head on the ice during a Dec. 14 fight.

Sanderson’s chinstrap was loose and he was knocked unconscious. He went into a coma and died Jan. 1 in hospital. Proteau said such an incident at the NHL level is inevitable as long as fighting remains part of the game.

“I think it will have to come to that, and it’s sad, that it will,” he said. “You’ll see a superstar like Jarome Iginla, one who likes to fight on occasion, he’ll slip and hit his head, or something along those lines, and then we’ll see action finally. And it will come swiftly then.”

There’s no doubt fighting is part of the game in Canada. But most professional European leagues have traditionally shunned fighting, handing down immediate ejections from the game and stiff suspensions. In the NHL, fighting is down per-game, post-lockout (2005–06 and on) and has taken a total back seat in the playoffs, mostly due to the instigator rule that sees a player ejected if he starts a fight.

Getting a veteran player or coach to speak out against fighting isn’t something we should expect anytime soon, said Proteau.

“I don’t think you’re going to get a lot of guys who are willing to go on the record about this, for fear of being painted as kind of yellow and going against the traditions of the game.”

Those traditions, he said, have been around for decades and are embedded within the culture of fighting and hockey in Canada.

The question remains simple: do the benefits of fighting offset these incidents, severe concussions and long-standing injuries to players?

Right now the people in power in the game, in North America at least, seem to be saying yes.

Patrick Blennerhassett is a reporter for the Oak Bay News.

patrickb@vicnews.com