“I would do everything I could to encourage a young player, if it’s his dream to make the NHL, to work on his skills. There will always be intimidation in the game of hockey. There’s intimidation in baseball. But the answer is no, I would not want to give anyone advice on how to be a fighter. I don’t think it’s a life I’d hope for for my children. The idea of teaching a young person how to develop that skill as a tactic is not something I would ever do in good conscience.
“For me, that’s not a condemnation of these men who have the protective gene. It’s me displaying my protective gene for them, if I could go back and grab them when they were 14 or 15 years old. For the people who spent a career and a lifetime protecting us, this is the responsible thing to say as far as protecting them.”
-Brendan Shanahan, President of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Much more from Adam Proteau of The Hockey News on this topic.
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