Watch an opponent go ballistic on Jarkko Ruutu, leading to cheapshot, Finnish league chaos (VIDEO)

Hey, remember Jaarkko Ruutu? Before he left the NHL after the 2010-11 season, signing with Jokerit in the SM-Liiga, the Finnish pest was one of those guys that could get under a man's skin like no other, drawing penalties and throwing opponents off their game.

He hasn't changed a bit. Here's a video in which Ilari Melart of HIFK just snaps on him. And, since Ruutu won't fight him, Melart decides to just go ballistic, punching Ruutu in the back of the head over and over, even going so far as to throw officials off of him to continue wailing away.

This occurs about two minutes into the game, because Ruutu is efficient.

But wait, there's more!

Unsatisfied with the way the situation was handled, Jokerit winger Semir Ben-Amor decides to take revenge into his own hands about eight minutes later. The winger, who averages about 100 penalty minutes a season, goes after star Ville Peltonen, first drilling the 39-year-old from behind, then taking him down along the near wall and wailing away.

This kicked off an intense brawl because, seriously, you don't hit Ville Peltonen.

Peltonen is a legend in Finland, with 13 medals in 19 international tournaments between 1994 and 2010, including a gold medal at the 1995 World Championships. In 2003 and again in 2011, he was awarded the Raimo Kilpiö trophy, the Finnish Elite League's version of the Lady Byng for most gentlemanly player.

But wait, there's more!

Return to the end of the top video and you'll see HIFK's revenge for going after Peltonen, as defender Jussi Salmi tackles Jokerit's Ilari Filppula near the end of the period and punches him in the neck until another Jokerit player steps in to fight. This starts a third brawl.

Anyway. Lucky for everyone, the first period ended shortly thereafter and everybody took a deep breath during the intermission.

s/t to Reddit.