Canada, U.S. women’s hockey teams have line brawl for second time in 2½ months (VIDEO)

Since antagonism outsells earnestness every day of the week, it might not be the worst for the profile of women's hockey that teams Canada and USA had their second line brawl in 10 weeks on Friday night.

The teams had a tussle during a game in Burlington, Vt., in mid-October. During the last minute of their pre-Olympic game in Grand Forks, N.D., with Team USA comfortably ahead 4-1, Team USA's Monique Lamoureux checked Canada's Brianne Jenner heavily into the boards. There was retaliation from Canada and then Team USA's Hilary Knight came flying in to confront Canada's Melodie Daoust. A full-scale fight broke out; 10 fighting majors were meted out.

"[A Canadian] took a cheap shot, hit one of our girls in the head with her elbow," U.S. forward Hilary Knight said on NBC Sports Network. "We don't like that."

In October, it was the other Lamoureux twin, Jocelyne Lamoureux, who was blamed with starting a fight after piling into Canadian goalie Shannon Szabados.

Damien Cox of the Toronto Star and Sportsnet denounced the donnybrook. The general reaction on Twitter was that Cox invoked a double standard.

It is sexist to hold women's hockey players to a higher standard of decorum than male players or to expect women to be the good and/or convenient example when violence in men's hockey that's taken for granted spills out of hand. There might have been a small point there, though.

Having the two teams that trade 1-2 finishes in every Olympics and world championship (save for 2006, when Sweden upset the U.S. in the Olympic semifinal) trade gloved punches is hardly going to impress the International Olympic Committee, which essentially put the game on notice after the 2010 Vancouver Olympics ended with yet another Canada-U.S. final. On the whole, women's hockey has become more competitive during this Olympic cycle, although Canada and the U.S. are the unquestioned top two, give or take Finland goalie Noora Raty performing larceny every now and again. Controversy sells, for better or worse.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.