While I’ve previously written about the significance of hockey to Canada, the abundance of hockey stories of late seems greater than usual and so caught my attention.  Maybe it’s because as regular season NHL play winds down, sports writers and others with commentary to share on some slice of the hockey world feel pressed to get their pieces wrapped up before the post-season dictates a more focused narrative.    Among the more interesting stories I’ve seen in the past couple of weeks is one from the March 1 edition of the NY Times on the rough-and-tumble Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey.   That Quebec-based league, which is not well known below the border, averages about 3.2 fights per game as compared to about 0.6 fights per comparatively tame NHL game.  Continue reading →