Amid Bruins-Senators line brawl, were two fighters eye gouging?
To paraphrase the old saying, a picture could be worth thousands ... of dollars.
In the photo above, that's the Ottawa Senators' Chris Neil (left) and the Boston Bruins' Adam McQuaid locked in what looks like a battle of the eye gouges. It occurred during a line brawl near the end of the Bruins' 7-3 victory over the Senators on Tuesday night. Combined with a fight that happened about 30 seconds earlier, the teams totaled 87 minutes in penalties in the last minute of the game.
Here's how it went down:
Senators coach Dave Cameron rejected the idea that he set up the line brawl by sending out players more skilled in hitting than playing hockey at the end of the game.
"I'm going to play the guys that normally I play at the end of a game when the score is out of hand," Cameron said, via The Associated Press. "My high-end guys play high-end minutes. Why would I have them out there when I play tomorrow? So no, I wasn't trying to send a message."
But what about Neil and McQuaid? That photo looks pretty ugly -- even more so than somebody getting his tooth knocked out in a fight, even if it was by Carrie Underwood's husband.
Does the fact that the Neil-McQuaid confrontation came during a line brawl even matter? Or that Neil ranked third in the NHL in penalty minutes heading into the game, while McQuaid barely made the top 40? Or that video makes it look like Neil might have started in with the gouging?
We'll see what the league office has to say and whether anyone's wallet becomes a little lighter.
H/T: Puck Drunk Love
