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Video: Brashear’s punch evokes memories of Bertuzzi

Eric Goddard, Donald Brashear

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Eric Goddard, right, fights with New York Rangers’ Donald Brashear during the first period of a NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh Friday, Oct. 2, 2009. Both players served five-minute fighting penalties. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

AP

Donald Brashear has been quietly plying his rough-and-tumble trade in the LNAH for the past two seasons, but who knows if he’ll continue to work there much longer after this happened on Friday:

Yikes.

Perhaps this shouldn’t be too shocking considering the fact that Brashear registered a whopping 2,634 penalty minutes in his 1,025 career NHL games. Still, it’s a pretty stunning thing to watch, particularly in slow motion.

Many people, including Sportsnet.ca’s staff, have already compared that punch from behind to Todd Bertuzzi’s notorious incident with Steve Moore. One cannot help but also note that Brashear’s been the victim of a controversial on-ice moment of his own, via Marty McSorley’s high stick.

There’s no word yet on what - if any - kind of discipline Brashear will face for punching Gaby Roch. If it’s hard to imagine that this scenario will improve his already-slim chances for an NHL comeback, however.