During a recent game in Finland’s SM-liiga, Matt Generous of HIFK played the puck to a teammate, which was generous of him. Josh Gratton of Ässät was half-heartedly forechecking when he slammed the blade of his stick on the ice in the general direction of Generous.

The two dropped their sticks, flung their gloves, rolled up their sleeves and skated to the middle of the rink. Hell, if you’re going to have a staged fight, might as well make it center stage, right?

The ensuring fight between the former North American players – Gratton played for the Philadelphia Flyers and Phoenix Coyotes, while Generous got as high as the AHL – was what you’d expect: Some solid haymakers, plenty of sweater jabs and enough twirling to induce vertigo. Maybe not your glass of Finlandia, but the fans seemed to like it.

Who didn’t like it? The league’s disciplinarian, Sampo Liusjärvi.

Gratton and Generous, who received match penalties in the game, were both suspended two games for this staged fight, with Liusjärvi saying (translated) that “this was a game situation not related to a non-spontaneous fight” and that both players “equally contributed” to the fight occurring.

Janne Virtanen, who hipped us to the story, believes the suspensions are a joke. Here's the suspension memo, per Virtanen:

As per league rule 141-i both players receive a two game suspension as it was their first fight of the season. The reason why they were suspended was because the disciplinary board felt that the fight and how it transpired didn't fit in with the normal flow of the game/current gameplay situation.

If nothing else, they should get credit for the choreography.

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