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Detroit Red Wings forward Jordin Tootoo (left) fights Calgary Flames forward Steve Begin last season.

(AP file photo)

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings have fought less than any team in the NHL over the past dozen years, but many players feel fisticuffs have a place in the game.

The age-old debate about whether the league should ban fighting is heating up again, just two days into the season. It was sparked by a scary incident Tuesday, when Montreal Canadiens enforcer George Parros hit his head on the ice during a fight with Toronto's Colton Orr. Parros suffered a concussion and had to be carried off on a stretcher.

Incidents like that prompted Tampa Bay Lightning general manager and former long-time Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman to declare that game misconducts should be issued for fighting -- he even supported a ban on fighting altogether.

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said “for sure'' he envisions a day when the NHL will ban fighting.

Players on the Red Wings, some who scrap and some who don't, can't picture that happening.

“If you did a study over the last few years of how many guys have been hurt really badly from fighting, I don't know if it's that many,'' defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “But there's always going to be incidents. The one that happened with George Parros is just bad luck.

“I think fighting has a place in hockey. Can you do something with the rules? Game misconduct or something like that? That might be an option.''

Jordin Tootoo, who led the Red Wings with eight fighting majors last season, sees many advantages to keeping fisticuffs in the game.

“Fighting has been a part of the game since Day 1,'' Tootoo said. “It's about having respect for each other and … what's called changing momentum of a game. It's a difference-maker, but at the same time you're not going out to intentionally hurt the guy.

“For me, I play a pretty rambunctious style of hockey that allows other teams to have a hate on me and I got to be able to back it up. I do, and I feel comfortable in doing that.''

Justin Abdelkader sees no problem with fights that occur in the heat of battle.

“I think there's still a place for fighting,'' Abdelkader said. “I think what they're trying to do is take out the staged part of the fighting, but I think it's still part of the game, part of the history.''

Drew Miller believes enforcers play an important role, but he acknowledged safety concerns, particularly to a player's life after hockey.

“You have to respect the guys that do it on a night-to-night basis,'' Miller said. “I think it does create a spark when needed, momentum shifts, but I don’t know where you draw the line where that’s more beneficial than someone’s health.

“If it was all gone it would be different and weird. But with a transition period maybe it would become normal eventually.''

Babcock called what happened in the Canadiens-Maple Leafs game “a farce.''

“We’re talking about taking all of the head shots out of the NHL and that stuff’s going on?'' Babcock said.

“So everyone will tell you that (fighting) has a place in the game. There’s lots and lots of hard games (other sports) that don’t allow fighting. I don’t have all the answers, I just know the way we’ve made it now, some guys with visors and some don’t and they’re taking them off, and not taking them off. To me that’s not two guys mad fighting, that’s something else.''

The NHL has taken measures to reduce head shots, doling out stiffer suspensions for illegal hits.

“When your league is this much against head shots and the penalties are so severe -- fighting is a head shot, isn’t it?'' Babcock said. “I don’t know where the fine line is there. I don’t know how you take head shots out of the game and allow scrapping.''