Violence is no stranger to hockey. As if legal body checking and stick checking did not make the sport rough enough, more and more players unleash their rage through extensive violence on the ice. Violence in hockey is what blacklists American players as second class. This is because of the rise of the violence trend throught the eighties and nineties into what is now a bloody and injury filled sport.
             Violence in hockey is so big that it is even going on trial when, "Wayne County (Michigan) begins prosecution of Jesse Boulerice. Boulerice, a Philadelphia Flyers prospect, attacked Andrew Long, a Florida Panthers prospect, by giving him a two handed baseball swing to the face with a hockey stick during an Ontario Hockey League playoff game in April of 1998." (Biggane Brian, Palm Beach Post) And this is only one example of how widespread violence is in hockey.
             "Today, aside from boxing, ice hockey (in North America) is unique among sports in condoning violence." (Bird, Patrick J. Ph.D., Column 460) In fact, violent penalties have doubled in the NHL since 1975. Many coaches and players credit this behavior to the popular myth that the more aggressive team wins. This myth has come about by the aggressive tactics used by coaches in the mid to late eighties. These tactics revolved around disabling the other team by using slightly rougher checks to throw the other player off balance, and have since evolved to the incorporation of hockey and violence. Studies, however, have showed the exact opposite, in terms of violence and wins. Over the course of the past twenty-five years, as we have seen violence double, it has been observed that violent teams tend to lose more than non-violent teams.
             The facts may point towards non-violence in hockey but it still seems to retain its appeal. There are a high percentage of fans which prefer violence in hockey, and even those who watch hockey purely for the v
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