I have been watching hockey for more than a decade now. You would think after so many years of following hockey, there would be nothing left to surprise me. Injuries happen, fights break out, and in the end, everyone bleeds. Violence has always been an integral part of hockey. It is a never ending cycle, and if it is ever completely removed from hockey, it will not be hockey anymore.

In recent years, the league has tried to make the game safer for its players. Head shots have been labeled a no-no, arena modifications have been made, and punishments have been made harsher. As promising as this is, the lack of follow through by not only the NHL, but players and fans as well, is rather disheartening. It is only round one of the 2012 playoffs and already we have seen several head shots delivered by different players, fans calling for blood and bodily retribution, and lopsided suspensions handed out by the league.

And now I ask, have we forgotten our humanity?

Have we forgotten that at the end of the day, hockey is only a game, one that was created for recreation and entertainment.

I would like to hope that we have not. I would like to hope that in the next few years or so we will see significant change in the attitudes players and fans have towards violence. I would like to hope, but it is getting harder with every illegal play made, every unjust suspension handed out and every rage-fueled death threat tweeted by a fan. I know that for a lot of people, myself included, hockey is a huge part of their life and sometimes the thing they care most about. We want our team to win that shining, beautiful grail of victory, the Stanley Cup, but at what cost? Where do we draw the line? How many players have to have their livelihood unjustly taken from them over what is essentially, only a game, before we are satisfied?

I look forward to the day when I can watch hockey without any vicious, illegal hits (very doable), log onto the Internet without fans wishing bodily harm on others (very possible), and agree with every suspension the league does or does not hand out because they are fair (okay, that is a long shot). Call me hopelessly optimistic (or delusional), but I will continue to root for humanity to make a comeback in hockey.