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Report: NHL to discuss 10-game suspension for goalie fights

Emery and Holtby fight

Could goalie fights one day be punished with a 10-game suspension?

League sources tell Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press that the NHL will discuss an automatic 10-gamer for goalies who leave their zone to fight, similar to the one that applies to players who leave the bench to fight.

Who knows, maybe it ends up being just three games. Or five. Whatever the number, a rule like that would’ve certainly made Flyers goalie Ray Emery think twice about skating down the ice to attack Washington’s Braden Holtby on Friday in Philadelphia.

Thrown out of that unwinnable contest (it was 7-0 Capitals at the time of the brawl), Emery was still allowed to start the Flyers’ next game, a 1-0 shutout over New Jersey on Saturday.

That Emery wasn’t suspended for his role in Friday’s melee didn’t sit well with many observers.

“There was no rule that was violated to elevate things to the level of a suspension,” said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. “It’s something we’ll continue to discuss...I’m sure it’s something we’ll focus on, particularly with the general managers.”

Related: Flyers say brawl helped bring them together