This is the culture in Philadelphia of which owner Mr. Ed Snider is so proud and protective. An unprovoked third period fight between a goaltender a touchdown behind and one pitching a shutout. Who ever would believe such a thing could occur with Prof. Craig Berube behind the bench?

It is difficult to conjure the scenario under which Emery would be suspended. There’s no mechanism under which the NHL would seem to have the authority to discipline the goaltender beyond the instigator, misconduct and fighting penalties assessed at the time on the ice under Rule 46. The last thing the league needs is VP Brendan Shanahan to go rogue and apply punishment without the express authority to do so.

If the NHL allows, endorses and promotes fighting, this is the type of fight the league and all of the pro-fisticuffs crowd is going to get from time to time. The “I like fighting, but not this kind” protestations in the wake of incidents such as this are hilarious.

Fighting is not the chivalrous act that so many of its defenders claim. Of all the reason players fight, “frustration,” “embarrassment” and “sending a message” are at the top of the list.

“They’re sending a calling card!” one of the Flyers’ announcers uttered excitedly during the four-ring circus of fights that included the Emery attack on Holtby. A calling card to whom? The Devils, for Saturday night’s game?

Emery went the length of the ice to fight a barely willing combatant because he still can in a league dominated by a thought process out of the 1950s. It was a calling card, don’t you know, just the way the designation of Emery as third star by a Philadelphia writer is a snapshot of the NHL in 2013-14.

Brooks continues at length, and he included a video of the incident: