I Went to A Fight and a Hockey Game Broke Out...

Last night my husband and I went to a Boston Bruins game, taking my ten year old son and his best friend Brendan with us.  I am starting to love hockey (my 10 year old plays), but am baffled by some of the game - particularly the fighting.  Well, you ain't seen nothin' until you go to an NHL game.  "Awesome!" every single man in the stands said, as seemingly right in the middle of some decent play the gloves came out and two players went at it, banging their fists into each others' faces.  I was horrified; why were the refs allowing this?  "It's part of the game!" my husband said gleefully, unable to tear his eyes away from the ice-battle of the ages below us.  (I was beginning to think that he was thinking twice about bringing me - during a power play I was trying to explain to him why my book club was cancelled.)  Soon, one player went down (non-Bruin, thank goodness; I have my loyalty) and blood spurted out all over the ice; I could see it from way up in the stands where we were.  "Yeah!" the men roared, high-fiving and back-slapping and grinning like crazy.  I looked at my husband, my son, and Brendan, who shrugged and turned back to the action.  Who were these people that I thought I knew?  Anyway...the blood was soon mopped up cheerfully by a couple of guys on skates, and play resumed.  Do you see this in basketball?  No.  Baseball?  No.  "That's why hockey is so great," my husband Fred says.  Sigh.