Dropping the gloves. Throwing hay makers. "Jersey-ing" an opponent while raining bombs.
The art of fighting - the role of enforcer.
Kiss it all goodbye, according to the Vancouver Canucks' forward Tom Sestito.
"It's done," Sestito told Patrick White of The Globe and Mail. "It was fun while it lasted."
The 27-year-old joins a plethora of enforcers including Colton Orr, Frazer McLaren and Brian McGratten who are without ice time or have been put out of jobs.
With the deaths of enforcers Rick Rypien, Wade Belak and Derek Boogaard along with the NFL's $1-billion settlement for players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative disease discovered in Boogaard's brain after his death, the amount of hockey fights has decreased not only in the NHL, but everywhere the game is played.
This has made the role of enforcer almost extinct in exchange for more of a four line approach, where all lines are able to contribute in more than just a typecast role.
As hockey relies less on fighting, Sestito's chance of playing for the Canucks, who are still on the hook for his $850,000 salary, dwindle.
Sestito has just one point in three games this season and 18 points in his 137 game career.
