from Puck Daddy,

“In my career, I’d never seen that before,” said Dean Lygipsakos, Roch’s head coach with Jonquiere Marquis.

The clip went viral in the U.S., as the original video is closing in on 200,000 views on YouTube. It’s easy to figure out why: an awesome brawl followed by a moment of empathy and celebration that would seem to juxtapose the warrior aesthetic embodied by the combatants.

The story behind that moment is a valentine to hockey’s lore. Roch wasn't just fighting an opponent. He was helping to celebrate the end of his idol's hockey career.

Gaby Roch is a 26-year-old right wing from Joliette, PQ in Canada. He played junior hockey in Quebec until 2008, when he was drafted to the LNAH. After showing some offensive flourish earlier in his career, coaches made his path to pro hockey clear: Drop the gloves, work the corners and be an energy player.

Joel Theriault is a 37-year-old defenseman playing his last season in the LNAH with the Thetford Mines Isothermic.

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