Time to Get Rid of the Knuckle Draggers

It is only day 3 of the NHL and I am already going there. I know teams want to get their fans excited for a new season, and want to make an impact....but was this really necessary? P.C. Labrie dropped with Joe Finley while Matt Martin and B.J. Crombeen also tussled.....at the one second mark of the game. Really guys?
And I don't think you can say there is bad blood. Those 4 guys all played on 4 different teams last year. So what was the point? Was the game that much more exciting because of it? Was it any more than delaying the start of the real game?

I have never really been opposed to fighting in hockey but there are a few scenarios that I am just getting sick of. This being one of them. The staged fighting right off the face off. Nine times out of ten it is done by players who are fringe NHLers that are playing SOLELY because of their fists. One from each team comes on the ice, they do their dance, sit for 5 minutes....and.....well.....noone really misses them. 

Sure it was an entertaining 30 seconds. I enjoy a good scrap, that I won't deny. But if I want to watch a fight....there is usually one every weekend courtesy of MMA. Hell at any given time I am watching a hockey game I could probably hit one button on my remote and find a fight. Do it during the commercial even. Making shenanigans like this almost pointless.

The other one that really bothers me is the "You hit my teammate hard so now we have to fight" fight. You know the one I'm talking about. Guy doesn't keep his head up, gets rocked CLEAN and now the guy throwing the hit has two options:

A. Drop the gloves and sit in the box for 5 minutes

B. Don't fight and be labeled a coward and a turtle

If you are any sort of talented player you don't want to take yourself off the ice for 5 minutes. So you just take the punches? Yes there are penalties given out for instigating a fight but has it really stopped it from happening?
An easy way to end all of this is game misconducts for any 'staged' fight. If the puck hasn't been on the ice for more than 3 seconds and you already have your gloves off....chances are you weren't expected to play too much that night anyways. Give him the boot, good riddance. You jump a guy for a clean hit, you see the showers early. Thanks for showing up, have a good night.

It really brings up the point of whether or not fighting is worth keeping around in the NHL at all. Would it really deter that many fans? Don't you think it would only draw more fans? I can't for the life of me remember the last time I watched a hockey game and thought "man, those fights sure made that a great hockey game".