As fighting increases, so will refs' use of the instigator rule

As Damien Cox pointed out last week, the "sweeping changes" concerning fighting that many expected after the death of Whitby Dunlops defenseman Don Sanderson last season never came to pass. The NHL's general managers supported an extra 10-minute misconduct penalty for staged fights, but the NHLPA's lack of support meant it would have never make it through the competition committee. The Toronto Star recently confronted players on the Toronto Maple Leafs, who clearly have muscled-up in the offseason, about the rise in fighting and the NHLPA's decision not to attempt to quell it:Cox pointed out that exhibition games this fall have averaged two fights, with the Leafs averaging four fights per game. "Everybody agrees on the players' side that fighting is part of the game. That's where we stand," said Matt Stajan(notes), the Leafs' NHLPA rep. "The whole staged fighting (issue), we don't believe it happens the way people think."Rath...