Let's start by giving credit to Don Cherry for pursuing goals that would make hockey safer for children and professionals.

He's been right to advocate no-touch icing. And his campaign against hitting from behind was commendable.

It's also worth saying that the Don Cherry whom people know personally is a good person. He loves the game. There's nothing phony about his positions. He is a true believer and he's extraordinarily popular.

So, when Toronto neurosurgeon Charles Tator called out Cherry for being a "negative influence" on the game, it was hardly surprising that a large share of the Canadian media would rush to Cherry's defense.

The Hockey Night In Canada commentator got in his own licks yesterday by loudly dismissing Tator as a misinformed publicity seeker.

Earlier in the week, Cherry's supporters went on the offensive. This editorial in the Barrie Examiner, north of Toronto, under the headline, "Cherry promotes a tough, clean brand of hockey," was typical of many of the opinion pieces. Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo Sports argued that "Charlie Tator" had used Cherry as a pawn to publicize his crusade against head injuries.

But, before we organize a lynching, let's focus on reality. A "tough, clean brand of hockey" referred to by the newspaper cannot include fighting, because fighting is against the rules. A foul isn't clean. Arguing, as Wyshynski does, that Cherry's complaining about a lack of respect among today's players places him solidly on the side of the angels is pretty weak.

Over three decades, Cherry has promoted two things. He has promoted hitting and he has promoted fighting. Every once in a while he will air a clip and pay his respects to somebody who has made a skilled hockey play, but not very often.

The consistent subtext to everything he says is: No matter how talented you are, you're less than a real hockey player if you're not willing to drop the gloves or deliver a big hit. And it helps a lot if you're a Canadian.

Has he "changed the culture" of hockey, as Tator asserted? He has played a significant role in changing the culture of hockey. He is by far the most influential commentator in Canada. Hockey Night is the most watched sports telecast in the country. Generations of kids, future hockey players, have grown up listening to his message.

Today, the NHL workplace is far more dangerous than it was even 20 years ago. There are more cheap shots and many more fights.

When the biggest, meanest hits of a particular week are glorified, the impressionable will strive for even bigger and meaner hits, and maybe, just maybe, they will include hits to the head.

Tator, an expert on brain injuries, was attending a seminar on concussions when he made his comments about Cherry. He also stated, hopefully, that if Cherry "took a strong stand against hits to the head, it would help." The good doctor probably shouldn't hold his breath. Cherry wouldn't even take his calls last week.

And just to underline his position, Cherry aired a clip on Saturday after he denounced Tator. It was the one in which David Koci, whom Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau described as a no-talent thug, delivered a hit along the boards to Mike Green. It was a classic cheap-shot. It was from behind. Green had his back turned. He didn't see the Colorado forward coming.

Who was to blame for this incident? According to Cherry, it was Green, the victim, because it was his responsibility to be aware that Koci was on the ice.

"It's absolutely ridiculous to do stuff like that," Cherry said.

Cherry didn't mean it was ridiculous for Koci to run Green into the boards. Oh, no. It was ridiculous that Green (a) was not aware Koci was on the ice (b) had his back turned and (c) apparently did not have eyes in the back of his head.

A sharp contrast to this lunacy was a segment on TSN's Friday night NHL game. The subject was Reggie Fleming, the deceased former NHL fighter who was found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease that causes behavioral abnormalities and dementia.

Fleming was the first hockey player known to have been tested for the disease, which was also found in several former NFL players. TSN did its own research and discovered that Fleming fought far fewer times during his era than today's pugilists. He was always close to being the busiest fighter in the NHL in the 1960s, tossing them four or five times a season. But today's leading fighters will drop his gloves more than 20 times.

You will continue to hear the argument that fighting doesn't cause serious head injuries, although explaining that to the parents of Don Sanderson would be difficult. He was the amateur player who died from a head injury suffered during fight last season.

Ultimately, perhaps, the final word on workplace safety, specifically head injuries, won't belong to commentators or even the NHL. TSN's Bob McKenzie said during the Friday night show, "Whether the NHL likes it or not, it's going to be dragged kicking and screaming into an era of legislation because this is becoming an athletic pandemic.

"What's going to happen with (U.S.) Congress being involved, medical authorities being involved, it's going to go beyond the game of hockey. It's going to become societal, and, when that happens, people in hockey are going to lose a little control about how the rules are governed. It's going to become illegal. Within five years, you are not going to be allowed to hit anybody in the head."

For more blogs from William Houston, go to www.truthandrumours.net