Spotted: Reaction to Don Cherry's comments

Don Cherry's fighting words about violence in hockey stirred up some heated debate in the comments on CBCNews.ca.

Cherry called three former NHLers who spoke out against some of the brutality in the sport, "pukes" and "hypocrites."

"You guys were fighters, and now you don't want guys to make the same living you did," he said on Coach's Corners.

Readers rallied behind the former hockey players and had some fighting words of their own for the colourful commentator.

• "[This] rant and his rage displayed in this video is very representative of the atmosphere that drove me away from hockey," said FredericL.
• "Perhaps Don has had one too many concussions," wrote JGratton.
• "Don Cherry to me is one of the most despicable sports commentator that I've ever heard in my 71 years. I remember way back how he was anti-Russian and how he has always been anti-French," wrote dupcess.

The debate also turned to fighting in hockey, which had readers a little more divided.

• "Hockey is the greatest of games. It's fast and there is a great deal of strategy and talent in it. Fighting and Don Cherry both wreck the sport," echoed Britt Ried.
• "If I want to see a fight I'll watch MMA," offered heybigbrother.
• "As a kid in the 50s hockey was great. They had fights , no helmets or masks and no one got hurt as bad as it is now. I they fought like that on the street in public they would be arrested and charged," shares budzksi42.
• "With the speed those guys hit each other I could see how it could set any players temper off on a bad night. In that sense I think fighting is probably a natural consequence of hockey if not a strategic neccesity," delirius.
• "There can be hockey with minimal fighting, but to have the idea that it will be eliminated isn't realistic," said manitoban74.

We polled the CBC community and 66 per cent of the 600 voters feel hockey should ban fighting. What do you think?