Watch: Crushing hit spurs NHL fight in Philly
Cheap shots. Bloody faces. Beastie Boys blaring on the PA system.
It must be an NHL preseason game in Philly.
The regular season may not start for a couple weeks, but there was a playoff-type atmosphere in the Maple Leafs-Flyers game last night - especially in the second period when Philadelphia's Jody Shelley blindsided Toronto's Darryl Boyce face-first into the boards. (Watch video above).
The Leafs' Jay Rosehill took exception to the hit and exchanged blows with Shelley for quite a while. Shelley clearly took the brunt of the fight (see photo at left), leaving the ice with the right side of his face bloodied. (We've seen that face before). Both players received fighting majors, and Shelley was also given a game misconduct.
Despite the apparent cheap shot, Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette was quick to defend his player.
"Jody typically tries to play an honest game out there, so I'm not sure where we'll go from there. The league's looking at incidents, so the fact that there was a call and a game misconduct, I'm sure it'll get looked at," Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette said. "But hopefully, nothing will happen."
Don't count on it. As CBSSports.com Eye on Hockey blogger Brian Stubits notes, Shelley's questionable hit will be a test case for new NHL czar of discipline Brendan Shanahan.
"Clearly Shelley is looking at some punishment from the league," Stubits writes. "The puck was long gone from Boyce's stick and the hit seems to fit the type of play the league is trying to rid to a T. Considering Shelley doesn't have the cleanest track record, I would expect to see Shelley sit out the remainder of the preseason, at least, and have to pay a fine."