The debate about fighting in hockey has reached a fever pitch this season, most notably following Colton Orr's knockout of Todd Fedoruk back on March 21. Ross Bernstein's The Code opens with a famous quote from the 1999 movie "Fight Club," which sets the tone right from the get-go…

The first rule of Fight Club is - you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is - you DO NOT talk about Fight Club. Third rule of Fight Club, someone yells Stop!, goes limp, taps out, the fight is over. Fourth rule, only two guys to a fight. Fifth rule, one fight at a time, fellas. Sixth rule, no shirt, no shoes. Seventh rule, fights will go on as long as they have to. And the eighth and final rule, if this is your first night at Fight Club, you have to fight.

Marty McSorley and Tony Twist, two of the best fighters of their era, then contribute some well-thought-out forewards, helping the reader further get into the mindset of NHL enforcers. McSorley wrote about honesty and respect; without those things you have the Wild West. You know what he is right. He went on to say that hockey is a game that polices itself.

McSorley provides a blow-by-blow account of the infamous Donald Brashear incident as well, and it was quite insightful. The book certainly doesn’t excuse the former Oiler for his actions, but it helps to explain what took place that night. Many of us know the story, but few are aware of the dialogue coming from the Bruins' bench, and that is the key here. McSorley also offers a unique (and certainly controversial) take on the Steve Moore incident, with Darren Pang providing an excellent counterpoint.

Twist, meanwhile, said he fought to win. If someone wanted to drop the gloves with him, they knew that they were going to take a beating. And today, Georges Laraque has most of the league intimidated; he doesn’t get challenged very often, proving Twist's point quite well.

Now, I know that fighting in hockey comes out of frustration. Sometimes it's an attempt to fire up your team or the home crowd, and sometimes or to clean up a dirty game because a team's top scorer has been attacked. Players like to police themselves, but unfortunately, "The Code" is something that is missing today. And Bernstein helps the reader understand just how important "The Code" is to the NHL game.

For The Code, Bernstein interviewed over 50 enforcers. He takes the reader through the evolution of fighting on the ice and also the courtroom battles that ensued as a result, a hot button topic if ever there was one. And he even addresses salary cap issues and the effect that the new rules have had on the roster. A book on hockey fighting wouldn’t be complete without a chapter on divers, and it's in there, too.

This book covers every aspect of fighting… The psychology behind it. Why it happens. Why it’s needed to protect players. What happens when players agitate but don’t drop the gloves. And much more. It reports on fighting in a responsible way, and it contains some pretty amazing photos of the greatest enforcers in NHL history.

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