“For me and my health on and off the ice, I don’t think fighting is the right thing right now.”



The two weeks of constant vomiting, the mood swings, the wondering if his professional life as he knew it was over, pushed Mark Borowiecki to make the decision.



The Ottawa Senators defenceman missed 23 games after sustaining a concussion when he was sent flying into the boards by New York Rangers defenseman Brendan Smith on Nov. 19. He was unconscious on the ice.



On an off day in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, he sat on a rock and turned his face to the sunshine and talked on the phone with his wife, Tara, for an hour, turning over and over the thought that had been going through his mind since his return.



When he got off the phone that day, a player who had opened the door to his professional career by fighting all comers — “I never had that ability to say no” — had decided that was exactly what he was going to...