BETTMAN WOULD LIKE TO TALK WITH LARAQUE ABOUT FIGHTING

Yesterday at the G.M's meeting, the topic came up about eliminating fights that happen off of faceoffs."The GMs need to find ways to make fighting safer instead of taking fighting out of the game," Laraque said Tuesday in Montreal. "With the instigator rule, you have more cheap shots in the game than ever. Having a 10-minute misconduct won't stop that. They should look at helmets or whatever to make it safer, not more penalties."The NHL commissioner thinks he might be able to convince the Montreal Canadiens tough guy that rule changes proposed by general managers this week aren't actually so bad."I'd like to talk to George about it 1-on-1," he said.

"I think with an in-depth discussion, these rules aren't so far off the mark from things that he would be comfortable with." All the G.M's agree with this idea, but not all of the players are happy about it." safer think it's stupid,It's not going to make fightning, Sean Avery of the New York Rangers said.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo