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Did Dubinsky break an unwritten rule of fighting?

I have to admit I was amused to see the New York Rangers’ Brandon Dubinsky thoroughly beat down Mike Richards of the Flyers yesterday. It was obviously an emotionally-fueled fight and it was painfully obvious that Dubinsky won the fight. I also didn’t see anything out of the ordinary with it.

Well, perhaps there was some extra stuff involved and Travis Hughes of Broad Street Hockey isn’t happy about it.

But there’s a point in the fight where Richards goes to throw a punch in return and never makes it. Instead, he falls to his knees and the linesmen jump in to stop the proceedings. From this point, when Richards is down and the fight is over, Dubinsky chooses to let his fists fly toward the defenseless Richards.

Even if the Flyers captain wanted to return fire, ignoring the fact that his jersey was over his head, he was unable to because he was in the clutches of the officials. Yet there Dubinsky continued to pound away. One, two, three.

You can see video of the hit, here. It’s true that Dubinsky did throw a few more punches, even after Richards was down. But is that all that out of the ordinary? I’ve seen fights end like that plenty of times, especially when there are emotions involved. It’s not exactly normal for it happen, but it happens. Except maybe not for Flyers players. They live by the letter of the ‘law’, according to Travis:

This stuff doesn’t happen too often against the Flyers, but one thing you’ll notice is that the Flyers are never, ever guilty of this crime. Not any time recently, at least. In fact, I’d urge anybody to go through the archives and find one fight this year where a Flyers player continued to throw punches at an opponent while that opponent was down.

I searched the full archive of the Flyers two most prolific fighters, Ian Laperriere and Carcillo, and one theme was evident throughout. That theme: a healthy dose of respect.

If there’s one thing the Flyers are known for, it’s showing respect for their opponents, right?

It’s tough to really argue with him, considering the multitude of video evidence he puts on the table. What do you think? Did Dubinsky break a rule here?