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ABSOLUTELY. Look at it this way, these player's are paid and playing hockey is their job, if you owned a company and one of your employees came to work and hit one of their co-workers over the head with a briefcase two or three times, or another co-worker pushed another one from behind down the stairs a couple of times what would you do? Most likely they would be fired right? Well professional hockey is a job just like being a businessmen or a construction worker and the same morals should apply no matter what the job is you are doing. Playing in the NHL shouldn't mean you get a free pass to physically assault and attempt to injure other people, accidents happen yes, but multiple infractions should not be tolerated and should be banned from the league. I would ask any NHL player to change jobs with me for a season and they can see how lucky they are to get to play hockey for a living and be admired and looked to as heroes and role models to our children. What they get to do for a living is a gift and should not be taken lightly, if they are going to continually break the rules of the game and the respect for the safety of others in the game, they should be stripped of that gift it's a privilege and with it comes responsibility and if you are not responsible enough to play within the rules set out for your sport you should not be in the league.

Some of these player's, let's take Chris Simon for instance have been given multiple chances to continue in the NHL after suspensions for acts of violence on the ice. Simon who has been suspended by the league once again after a vicious slash to the head of an opponent after being checked against the boards from behind which some might say was deserving after the hit from behind but nobody deserves to be killed while playing a game no matter what the cause! A single blow to the head could kill someone or cause brain damage and yes I know everyone will say "well he was wearing a helmet," does that justify it? The day will come when someone is killed and then a change will be made, but by then someone will have lost a father or husband or son is that what we the sports fans want to see?

I believe that some of these players do not have the mental capacity to comprehend the dangers of the actions they take on the ice as repeat offenders. Some player's are incapable of playing the game any other way and that must stop also and where it stops is in the minor leagues, children's leagues. The NHL and other hockey associations must get the word out at an early age that this type of behavior WILL NOT BE TOLERATED at any level of hockey. Players who have played their entire careers a certain way are sometimes incapable of changing and those players who offend on multiple occasions must be removed from the league to prevent those others from possibly career and life ending injuries.

Let's face it these multiple offenders are few and the league are many, they must protect the many players in the league who keep within the rules of the game from those players who are a danger to those other's in the game. These player's lives depend on them playing hockey to earn a living both for themselves and their families and sometimes careers are short lived due to injuries and the physical demands the game involves so having it cut even shorter by an act of intentional injury by someone who has done this on numerous occasions would be a tragedy. Let's protect our game of hockey and our heroes that play the game hard to entertain us the sports fans by writing in support of this type of banning in the NHL and for all other hockey leagues across the country.

Learn more about this author, Mark Raymond.
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