Having confronted Dr. David, Dave Neuman, International Man Of Mystery, 
exclaimed:
 
 ->     Hardly an insignificant part of it.  Fights don't break out
 ->for the just the hell of it, usually something provokes it.  In the
 DN> Let me clarify.. I meant fighting takes up very little TIME.. not that
 DN> it's not a most enjoyable and arguably key part of the game.  We're on
 DN> the same side of this issue..
 
     Okay, it certainly takes less time than a lot of those silly little 
scrums that too often occur where all players gather in knot and rub 
their gloves in each other's faces, but I suppose Ed finds it more 
entertaining...
 
 ->     No fighting?  Have you so soon forgotten that celebrated
 ->Clark-McSorley tilt in Game 1 of the Toronto-Los Angeles conference
 ->final in 1993?  I also seem to recall there being a donnybrook
 ->breaking out in Game 4 of this past years conference final between
 ->Colorado and Detroit with Marc Crawford wanting to punch out Scotty
 ->Bowman...
 
  Yeah, I recall those.. and the little head-hunting spree my man Gino
 DN> Odjick went on against the St.Louis Blues a couple of years back :)
 DN> Again, let me clarify.  There is a lot less fighting in the playoffs
 DN> than there is in regular season games.  Fair enough?
     Fair enough...
     BTW I found the average for the last two seasons comparing regular 
season and playoff penalties.  It turns out the Guide does have those 
stats, I was just looking in the wrong spot...
     Year      Regular Season Avg.   Playoff Avg.
     ~~~~      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~~~~~~
  1994-95             39.3               32.0
  1995-96             40.1               37.6
  
     This is an average for both teams in a game.
     
     While there definitely shows an overall drop in the playoffs both 
years show a big jump in penalties for a couple of teams:
     1995           Regular Season      Playoffs
     ~~~~           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~~~
     Washington          23.8             30.4
     St. Louis           22.4             30.0
     Vancouver           22.8             24.7
     
     1996
     ~~~~
     Washington          18.9             32.3
     Tampa Bay           19.9             31.7
     Boston              12.7             29.4
     Philadelphia        21.9             24.2
     
     Now that I know where to find the stats I'll head down to the 
library this Wednesday and get the stats for the last 10 years.
                                       Sincerely Yours
                                       
                                       David G. Riess
                                       EchoStatMonger
... You tell 'em Johnny! You tell the world!
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20 [NR]
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