Colin Campbell, the NHL's director of hockey operations, sparked a furor last week when he suggested it's once again time that league officials "take a look" at fighting.

The comment was prompted by a fight in New York's Madison Square Garden on Wednesday in which Rangers forward Colton Orr knocked Philadelphia Flyers forward Todd Fedoruk flat on his back with a monstrous right to the jaw.

It's unknown whether the NHL's board of governors will even discuss outlawing fighting at their next meeting, but Campbell said, "We have to take a look at it."

In the Blue Jackets dressing room, this reaction -- and even the suggestion that fighting be phased out -- drew many raised eyebrows.

"Everybody's overreacting," enforcer Jody Shelley said. "No way they can get rid of the fighting. Trust me, that would be a very tough experiment for a lot of guys in this league to go through.

"The fighting is not just done for entertainment. There are teams you play against eight times in a season, and there are things that happen out there on the ice, things that need to be addressed by men. That element of this game can't go away."

Shelley will play his 347th NHL game at 8 tonight when the Blue Jackets play St. Louis in Scottrade Center.

He's had 112 five-minute major penalties for fighting during his career.

"I'm proud of the job I do," Shelley said. "I think it's an important job.

"Guys will take runs at some of our guys if they know there are no repercussions. Guys like David (Vyborny) need to be comfortable out there, and that's part of my job."

Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock wholeheartedly agrees with Shelley, but he also makes an important distinction between goons and tough guys.

"It's the staged fights that have always bothered me," Hitchcock said. "I don't see any rhyme or reason of going to the faceoff circle and agreeing to fight. To me, that has limited impact, and it gets to be, at times, a little ridiculous.

"But I see the merits to it, big time, when there's a dirty hit or an illegal hit that leads to an injury. When you don't have people on your team who are willing to answer the bell, to stand up for their teammates, then you lose a lot of camaraderie."

Under Hitchcock, the Blue Jackets have relied on players such as Shelley, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and Alexander Svitov for their policing. Shelley has 12 fights this year, Tollefsen nine and Svitov six.

"If you don't have that element on your team, it has the potential to become open season," Hitchcock said. "We have a lot of players who are willing to fight, and that's very important."

Tollefsen doesn't think fighting will ever be outlawed.

"Before they go there, I could see them making it a 10-minute penalty," Tollefsen said. "But I don't see what the big deal is. One guy gets knocked out, and now we're going to get fighting out of the game?"

Shelley, whose contract runs through next season, thinks his line of work is safe.

"Instead of picking on the fighting, I don't understand why they don't look at all the guys getting their elbows up on hits," he said. "I've seen five guys laid out cold this year by hits to the head, and they want to talk about fighting?

"I also hear that guys are bigger and stronger now. Tony Twist. Bob Probert. Stu Grimson. Dave Schultz. Those guys played with no helmets. They fought 40 times a year, and they blocked shots, too. I don't think we're bigger and badder and tougher than they were back then, so what's the big deal?"

aportzline@dispatch.com