TORONTO -- Brian Burke is struggling to come to grips with the evolution of hockey.

On a day the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager sent enforcer Colton Orr to the American Hockey League, he bemoaned that there doesn't appear to be much need for players like Orr in today's game.

Long a proponent of rough-and-tumble hockey, Burke now presides over a Leafs team that is built largely on speed and skill.

The sport has trended in that direction since the lockout and it has come with a few other developments Burke finds troubling.

"If you want a game where guys can cheap-shot people and not face retribution, I'm not sure that's a healthy evolution," he said Thursday. "The speed of the game, I love how the game's evolved in terms of how it's played. But you're seeing where there is no accountability."

According to numbers provided by the NHL, fighting is down significantly this season. Through play Wednesday, there was an average of 0.8 fighting majors per game compared with 1.2 at the same point last year.

San Jose's Jason Demers, left, and Columbus' Derek Dorsett tangle Thursday night in the Sharks' 2-1 win. According to numbers provided by the NHL, fighting is down significantly this season. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

"To me, it's a dangerous turn in our game," Burke said.

The Leafs found themselves in the bottom third of NHL teams in that category, with just 13 total fighting majors before facing Winnipeg Thursday night. The New York Rangers were tops with 31, while the Detroit Red Wings were last with six.

Burke's comments come at a time when the sport has been forced to do some soul-searching. Tough guys Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak died within a short span during the summer, and Boston University doctors found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative neurological condition, in Boogaard's brain, as they have with other former fighters.

At the same time, a number of high-profile NHLers have been sidelined with concussions, while new league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan has attempted to lead a crackdown on dangerous hits, suspending three players in the past week alone.

Burke once held Shanahan's job and believes the director of player safety wouldn't be so busy if players were policing the game themselves with more fights.

"(Shanahan) needs a telephone receptionist in his house because of all of this crap that's going on on the ice," Burke said. "These guys that won't back it up, won't drop their gloves, run around and elbow people in the head and hit people from behind. They never have to answer for that in the game. They used to have to answer for that in the game.