Every time I think I have heard it all, I am harshly reminded that there are a lot of things out there I never dreamed possible. In this case it is a hockey fight camp for kids.

I like hockey. I prefer Olympic and college hockey to the pros, but I like watching the Wild, as well as the NHL playoffs.

I also like watching the fights. I’m not going to lie; there is something about the Wild sending goon Derek Boogaard on the ice to beat the living day lights out of an opposing bully that I enjoy.

I like the game more than the fights, but the fights are becoming more and more a part of the game, in the NHL anyways.

I don’t mind watching grown men without teeth duke it out. After all, what do they have to lose? Well, certainly not another tooth. But teaching young children how to hockey fight?

I’m skeptical. I would rather watch little kids try to score goals, skate, check correctly, play defense and learn sportsmanship.

Sportsmanship?

Yeah, that thing that sports are supposed to teach children.

According to Michael Russo’s story in the Strib, the camp is not to create bruisers, but rather in Boogaard's words, 

" We're teaching kids how to protect themselves so they don't get hurt on the ice. I don't want what happened to me to happen to them."

 If I wanted to see little kids duking it out, I would go to the local playground.

Read a column about the hockey fight camp at www.startribune.com/10073/story/1306535.html [1].

Read the story at www.startribune.com/1330/story/1302464.htm [2].

What do you think about a hockey fight camp for children?

Is it teaching them a skill or bad sportsmanship?

Is there a place for fighting in youth hockey?

What do you think?