Emery vs. Holtby; Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Goalie Fights

Last Friday night, the Flyers got shellacked by the Capitals 7-0 in an embarrassing loss that was overshadowed by the giant line brawl in the third period.  For those that missed it, the countless video replays, the god-awful Philadelphia announcing, or the endless tirades from hockey pundits over the weekend about it, let me enlighten you.

It starts with Wayne Simmons gooning it up out there after a Capitals goal.  Then...bedlam.

Ok, so we all see it.  In an apparent effort to "energize" his team that was getting destroyed defensively by the Capitals, Ray Emery takes it upon himself to skate the length of the ice to fight his counterpart, Braden Holtby.  As the announcers mention and as you can see on the video, Holtby wanted nothing to do with a fight.  His team was up 7-0, he played a great game, and was probably looking forward to coasting the rest of the game and relaxing in a hot tub after work.  Well, as you can see by the video, Emery wouldn't take no for an answer and proceeded to pummel Holtby into submission.

So now that all the water cooler talk, NHL news spinning, and focus in general is gone from this event, it's the DFG's turn to speak.  I like to wait till after the fact because if you can't be the breaking news, you might as well re-stir the pot.

What happened to Emery as a result of this play?  He got 2 min for instigating, 2 min for leaving the crease, 5 min for fighting, 10 min misconduct, and a game-misconduct.  Other than that???  Nothing.  The NHL decided taht the league's rules did not allow for any other punishment beyond what was dished out on the ice.  No one has really come forward to explain this fact that I am aware of but apparently the "conduct detrimental to the league" thing they frequently suspend guys for only applies to off-the-ice incidents.

So this begs the question, since Emery didn't violate a rule per-se, did he violate the spirit of the game?  Did he violate the "code" of conduct that players have, for decades, lived by on the ice when it comes to dropping the gloves?  When a guy is unwilling to fight an opponent, the general rule has always been to back off and skate away.  But in this case, that didn't happen and Holtby got destroyed.  I was almost positive that the Shanahammer would drop on Emery come Monday morning but that didn't happen either.  There has been dialogue from commissioner Bettman about changing, or making, a rule that would prevent this kind of behavior on the ice but until the owners meeting next month in Toronto, that change is left to be seen.

I'm curious to hear what everyone else thinks on the subject?  Please leave a comment regarding the fight, the "code", or anything else you'd like to comment about.