Jeff Zelevansky/Associated Press The lasting impression many Penguins fans might have of Mark Messier being thrown out a violent act. Click photo for larger image.

Years ago, there was a big flap in Edmonton when Mark Messier, then a part of the Oilers' dynasty, was portrayed as a Cro-Magnon man in an editorial cartoon. How do you like him now?

Messier, 43 and probably finishing his final season in the NHL with the New York Rangers, is a sure Hall of Famer, and deservedly so. In an NHL career that began in 1979-80, he has accumulated 693 goals and 1,886 points, has played on six Stanley Cup champions and has won two Hart and one Conn Smythe trophies.

This week, though, thoughts of Messier in Pittsburgh -- what could be the lasting image of him in this town -- are tied to his ugly spearing of Penguins defenseman Martin Strbak in a game Sunday at Mellon Arena.

That incident not only brought Messier's career total of penalty minutes to 1,910 and earned him a two-game suspension, but it also was an embarrassment to the league coming on the heels of the Todd Bertuzzi incident.

And it wasn't the only suspension the league handed down this week.

Calgary's Chris Simon got two games for kneeing Sergei Zubov of Dallas. Calgary coach Darryl Sutter drew two games and Flames forward Krzystof Oliwa three for a ridiculous incident in a loss at Nashville when Sutter sent Oliwa onto the ice in the final seconds. Oliwa repeatedly tried to fight several Predators and received a penalty for physical abuse of officials. Toronto's Wade Belak was suspended for eight games for a two-handed chop to the face of Colorado's Ossi Vaananen.

What other major pro sport has anything approaching that kind of list in its transactions in the span of a few days?

Sad to say, the NHL is on the verge of losing its "major sport" status, if it hasn't already. A lockout next season over a labor dispute won't help matters.

It was just a couple of weeks ago that outrage poured from every NHL city, and places where hockey isn't as well known, over Bertuzzi's hit and tackle from behind that left Colorado's Steve Moore with a broken neck. Bertuzzi, of Vancouver, was suspended for the balance of this season and must apply for reinstatement to the league. There also is a police investigation of the incident.

For a lot of former and non-fans, this is the face of the NHL today, and it's a face not a lot of mothers could love. Not a lot of sports fans in general love it, either, judging from attendance figures and TV ratings. Because the furor and attention raised by the Bertuzzi incident seem to have died down some, let's say it again:

The NHL needs to do something to curb the violence in its game.

Let's keep saying it until the league listens or dies a slow death.

That does not mean the sport has to become baseball. Contact and checking are an integral part of hockey and always should be. But there's a big difference between a well-timed hip check that takes out an opponent on the blue line and an out-and-out mugging, sometimes with the use of a raised hockey stick. We all know where it has to start. It has to start where fighting stops.

Don't give me that tired line about fighting being part of hockey's fabric. Change isn't always bad. Witness spitballs, basketball without a 3-point shot and the single-wing offense.

And don't dredge up that nonsense about players needing an outlet for their frustration or an avenue to defend their manhood according to some hockey code. Athletes in other sports have tempers and egos, too, and they don't regularly resort to fighting. When they do fight, they get an ejection, not just a penalty. Nor do other sports employ enforcers.

There used to be a theory that as long as hockey players are allowed to fight, it helps cut down on other violent acts, particularly illegal stickwork, and therefore reduces injuries. That doesn't stand up anymore.

I looked the other way for years myself when it came to fighting in the NHL. I bought the boys-will-be-boys nonsense. But fighting and all other blatant violence is bringing the game down, and I don't want to see that.

Any hockey purist wants a game without fighting, or at least respects the game enough to live without the fisticuffs.

If you can't appreciate the skating, stickhandling, passing, checking and goaltending, please take your bloodthirst and beer and retire to the alley. It's not as if there are enough of you self-proclaimed diehards who crave fighting to keep the sport thriving.

Supporting violence in hockey is like saying you're an auto racing fan when you only watch in hopes of seeing a fiery crash.

Tthose who vehemently defend and advocate fighting in hockey are doing harm to a league they supposedly love. For the sake of the NHL, it's got to stop.