Jamie Nye: Fight night in NHL was easily avoidable

The Washington Capitals and New York Rangers showcased everything that is wrong with hockey.

I laughed at the fights but should a sport not be enjoyed for the skill and not enjoyed for the sideshow that was Wednesday night fight night at Madison Square Garden?

Next time the NHL should just set up a boxing ring to start the game and have Tom Wilson fight one of the Paul brothers, who are now making a career at boxing anybody they can make a dime off of.

Let me be clear that if emotions boil over and a fight happens, I’m not going to turn the TV off. But there are layers of blame for what happened.

First, if George Parros does his job at the Department of Player Safety and suspends Wilson for last night’s game, nothing happens.

If the Capitals would have just started Wilson and he fights right off the hop, it could have ended there. But no, we get three fights off the draw with Wilson sitting on the bench.

And the Rangers went way overboard on their response to Monday night’s controversy.

The story we should be talking about is T.J. Oshie’s hat trick the day after the death of his father. But no, the NHL, Capitals and Rangers dragged the game down to the lowest common denominator.