Solution is short and sweet

After Colton Orr's crushing barehanded punch to Todd Fedoruk's kisser last week, NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell was widely quoted as saying it's time to question fighting's place in the game.

With all due respect to Campbell, a fairly cantankerous customer in his playing days, that question has been out there for decades, and it isn't likely to be addressed seriously now. That's not to diminish the damage to Fedoruk's face or how it might jeopardize his career. It's simply to recognize that there hasn't been a significant shift in market forces -- or in attitudes of owners and general managers, players and fans -- that would rid the NHL of fighting.

Now, anyone who reads this space with some regularity knows this author's position on the fight game. To wit: The only thing wrong with it is that there isn't enough of it in the NHL. It's not about the punching per se, but the passion that generates it. Too many nights, in too many rinks, nothing burns in the bellies of the players or, worse, the customers.

I know, that view isn't politically correct, but frankly, there are far greater horribles in the sports world. Just one that comes to mind: the utter exploitation of inner-city youth, many of them minorities, by major college basketball and football programs. It's blatant, it has gone on for decades, and it too often leads to lives lost to broken promises and dead ends. But it's not nearly as vivid as that Orr punch, or Chris Simon's crosscheck to Ryan Hollweg's chin (which was an assault, not a fight).

Here's an idea, though, that I've been ruminating on for a long time. If implemented, one of its consequences would be to scale back fighting even further. In my opinion, that would be unfortunate, but here goes:

Contrary to public opinion, expansion to 30 teams has not left rosters lacking in talent. We all know the players are bigger, stronger, and faster than in decades past. Overall, they are far better athletes, and there are scores upon scores of them.

Truth is, odd as it may sound, benches now have too much talent, and that's the problem. There is very little give, if you will, especially among forwards 10 through 12, and defensemen Nos. 5 and 6. And the problem, in essence, is that the deployment of that "floor" talent has inched far too close to the "ceiling" talent, muting the brilliance of the game's best players.

Coaches simply have too many good players, in the form of dogged checkers, whose sole purpose is to tamp down the opposition's best players. Long gone are the days when a coach selects his best defensive-minded forward, his "shadow," to cover the other team's sniper. Heck, the average coach in today's NHL has one line, sometimes two, to gut the opponent's offense. If that's not enough, the coach rolls out his dreaded trap defense, and has all 18 skaters doing next to nothing to create offense.

Similarly, once was the time when penalty-killers actually thought about stealing the puck and attempting to do something with it -- like, hey, score a goal. Now, for the most part, PKers think in terms of 25-second shifts, simply to hunt down the puck and fire it the length of the ice. How creative and entertaining.

The fix is simple, though somewhat unorthodox, and certainly not to be easily accepted by the NHL Players Association. For the best players to be out on the ice more, and for them to be faced with less strategized resistance, allow coaches to utilize what amounts to a playing "lineup" of only nine forwards and five defensemen, a radical deviation from the current standard of 12 forwards and six defensemen.

So as not to raise PA ire over staffing levels (read: potential job loss), the coach would be mandated to dress 18 skaters and two goalies, as has been the case for decades. However, prior to the opening faceoff, the coach would have to designate his lineup of nine forwards and five backliners, effectively rendering the other four players on his bench as reserves.

Here's the hitch: As in baseball, once the coach opts to bring in a reserve, he would have to pull one of his forwards or defensemen for the remainder of the game. Like a pitcher yanked for a reliever, once you're out, you're out. For the most part, the coach will keep his higher-skilled guys skating and swap a checker for a checker, or a checker for a tough guy. No doubt, to my chagrin, fewer tough guys will see the ice, and all of us will see fewer fights -- something Campbell and the PC crowd will relish.

But overall, a shorter bench has to be better for the game. It would lead to more ice time for the best players (three cheers here), all of them set loose in an environment stocked with fewer checkers, grinders, and punchers. Players will have to be more versatile, creative, and willing to adapt. Heck, that fifth defenseman might even see a shift or two at forward.

Just do the math here for a second: for decades, the game has survived with six defensemen filling two positions on the ice, a 3-to-1 ratio. Meanwhile, 12 forwards have stocked three positions, a 4-to-1 ratio, to fill what is oft considered an easier job. How do they allow this to continue? If nothing else, those numbers are upside-down.

The 9-5-2 approach would bring those ratios more in line, and ultimately lead to a more open and exciting game. Think not of today's NHL rosters as talent-poor. Quite to the contrary. These are lineups with great high-end performers, stellar, highly-conditioned athletes, but they simply are not allowed to thrive in a workplace that has become bottom-heavy with highly effective drones. Limit what the drones can do, and watch the game take off.

Jurcina has been a plus for Capitals

Last Sunday in D.C., the lowly Capitals slapped a 7-1 loss on the lofty Lightning, a thumping that left Bolts star Vincent Lecavalier without a point and a minus-2 for his 22:17 of ice time.

"Vinny came away from that one talking about how impressed he was with [Milan] Jurcina," said a veteran scout with close ties to Tampa's franchise center. "I guess Jurcina was out there every time Vinny was, and he said he's one of the toughest defensemen he's had to play against."

Shades of Hal Gill taking on Jaromir Jagr, isn't it?

Jurcina, whom the Bruins dished to the Capitals for a fourth-round pick Feb. 1, had one assist and was an impressive plus-4 in 22:54. Since departing the Hub of Hockey, the behemoth Jurcina routinely logs in excess of 20 minutes of ice time per game.

Etc.

Intentional squawk
The Bruins today will see one of the league's more, shall we say, excitable coaches when they visit Pittsburgh for a matinee. Michel Therrien, the ex-Montreal mentor, got into it again last Sunday when he jawed with Senators coach Bryan Murray (no shrinking violet himself). Murray kicked up some dust when Penguins star Sidney Crosby, in his opinion, "dressed up" some contact (read: dived) that led to a Mike Comrie interference call. Therrien hollered back at Murray, he said, because he doesn't like other coaches talking to his players. Later, Murray said he wasn't addressing Crosby, but instead had words for referee Don Koharski. "That's his nature," Murray said of the histrionic Therrien. The two meet again April 5 in Ottawa; plenty of time to install those bench microphones, unless the two coaches are mandated to enroll in anger management classes.

Winging his way to riches
Not a great time for the Red Wings to be hiccuping. Their 2-1 shootout loss to the Blue Jackets Thursday night was their third straight defeat, the Winged Wheels unable to produce more than one goal in any of the losses. However, vastly overlooked this season, especially of late, has been the impressive consistency of star forward Pavel Datsyuk (who has yet to show that he can get the job done in the playoffs). Prior to yesterday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Blues, the clever Datsyuk had at least 1 point in 12 straight games (5-13--18). He has been held without a point in only four of his last 25 games, including yesterday's. The 28-year-old Russian pivot will hit the market as an unrestricted free agent July 1, after making $3.9 million this season. His starting point will be the $20 million/four-year deal that Marc Savard inked in Boston last July.

Labor pains continue
The shakeout in the Players Association front office seemingly grows more unsavory by the day. Last Monday, good guy Mike Gartner, Hall of Fame winger and longtime union executive, resigned his PA duties in light of the recent ousters of executive director Ted Saskin and lieutenant Ken Kim. Gartner said he was "uncomfortable" with Saskin's stewardship going back nearly two years. The resignation brought this from Saskin antagonist Chris Chelios: "Mike spent the last year and a half making $250,000 lobbying for Ted. The right thing for him to do would be to pick up the phone and to tell Ted to return all the union's money that he has spent the last 18 months trying to keep his job." The PA's house of cards -- jokers included -- began to fall when the Toronto Star first reported that Saskin snooped through e-mail of union members that passed via the PA website. After initially denying the claim, Saskin soon revealed that it was a practice put in place by his former boss, Bob Goodenow. One or two more revelations, and ESPN can turn this into a series -- and then hockey will post a decent number in television ratings.

Ex-Boston University winger Keith Tkachuk, now part of the playoff-bound Thrashers, said in a conference call last week that too many guys are taking too many liberties with sticks and fists. Days earlier, the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, noted much the same, feeling that perhaps too much attention has been paid to mitigating all the interference that clogged the game up in recent years. "There's a lot of guys," said Tkachuk, "who aren't accountable." Many of them, it's worth noting, fill the sweaters of those "depth" forwards/drones who sit on nearly all NHL benches.

Ex-Bruin Fred Stanfield is back in town today and will be signing autographs at Sportsworld, Route 1 (1268 Broadway) in Saugus, from noon until 2 p.m. For more information: 781-233-7222 . A key contributor to Boston's Stanley Cups in '70 and '72, the 62-year-old Stanfield is now retired and lives outside Buffalo after years of running his own office furniture company . . . Bidding ends Tuesday on all the goodies put up for auction by Alan Eagleson, the disgraced former executive director of the NHLPA. As of Friday afternoon, the black No. 4 Bruins sweater that the auctioneer claims Bobby Orr wore May 11, 1972, the day the Bruins clinched their most recent Cup, had a top bid of $89,542.90. For the rest of the lot, check out: www.classicauctions.net . . . A blistering-hot Jumbo Joe Thornton is within 4 points (108- 104) of catching Sidney Crosby for the league scoring lead after a goal and an assist in last night's 6-4 loss to the Hurricanes. Thornton to Canadian Press: "You just kind of fly under the radar out here in San Jose." A magnanimous Thornton also spoke of Crosby's abundant talents, and said that either Vancouver netminder Roberto Luongo or Devils backstop Marty Brodeur deserved the MVP. Thornton, slated to be an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2008, is on course to become the sport's first "max cap" player -- with a long-term deal in '08 that would bring him just under $10 million a year . . . Pittsburgh's new rink, to be ready for the 2009-10 season, is expected to be built just across the street from the Igloo -- now the NHL's oldest facility (built in 1961). Total cost: $290 million, or some $130 million more than what it cost to put up the Shawmut/Fleet/TDB Garden . . . What a collapse in Edmonton in the wake of the Oilers jettisoning Ryan Smyth to the Islanders at the trade deadline Feb. 27. Before Friday night's shootout win over Colorado, last year's Cup finalists were 0-11-1, dating back to two days before the deadline. If he cared to talk about signing back with the Oilers as a free agent this summer, Smyth can only add to his asking price with every Edmonton loss.

Kevin Paul Dupont's e-mail address is dupont@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.