Watch the hockey fight, stay for ritualistic gear tossing (Video)

Evgeny Grachyov of Lokomotiv and Sergei Sentyurin of Metallurg had a fight in the KHL on Sunday that featured a few strong punches after a lengthy preamble in which they skated around staring at each other.

But the reason we dig this clip is the replay after the actual fight, when you can see the genesis of it. The stick goes. The gloves and the other stick go. Out goes the mouthpiece. Off come the helmets, gently placed alongside them.

It’s all very ritualistic, like something out of Roman times. But even those people knew well enough to wear a [expletive] helmet during a fight.

Alas, Sentyurin was suspended one game automatically for his second fight of the season. Yes, the KHL has more stringent fighting rules than the NHL. And they pay their players with paper bags stuffed with Rubles.