Patrick Roy's actions in a melee raise dark issues

Patrick Roy's taste for blood and fisticuffs has followed him from the NHL to junior hockey, where he coaches his son's team. AP

It might seem hard to recognize, what with all the fisticuffs, middle fingers, denials, counter denials and suspensions flying around, but former NHL goaltender Patrick Roy has done the hockey world a tremendous service.

The Hall of Famer, who is currently serving a five-game suspension from his role as coach, general manager and part-owner of a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team, has put the issue of fighting in hockey -- especially fighting in the youth feeder system that is the backbone of NHL player development -- out front for all to see.

And given that it involves one of the most prominent personalities the game has ever known -- and his 19-year-old son Jonathan -- it's not likely to fade from view anytime soon.

The events that brought us to this fascinating viewing station -- a flat-out brawl between Roy's Quebec Remparts and the Chicoutimi Sagueneens -- are fairly well documented. You can see it on YouTube or one of the countless other sites that now give us a daily glimpse of ourselves on video. You can read about it across the internet. For those not inclined to go browsing, I'll give you the traditional newspaper style recap:

With the Sagueneens, a traditional and much-despised rival leading Game 2 of their first round playoff series by a monstrous score (7-1), the Remparts apparently decided to put into play the old hockey tradition of "sending a message." Seemingly on cue (police are investigating reports that the senior Roy signaled for the commencement of hostilities), the classic hockey brawl broke out. All 10 on-ice skaters engaged in a slugfest and the junior Roy, seemingly with the blessing of his coach/father, went looking to challenge Chicoutimi goalie Bobby Nadeau.

The younger Roy, normally a backup goalie, was in net at this point in the proceedings. Once the brawl broke out, he skated to center ice (a rules violation) and was at first restrained by an on-ice official but eventually set loose as other fights intensified and the official's services were needed elsewhere. Once that happened, young Mr. Roy -- seemingly after looking in the direction of his bench -- skated the rest of the way and engaged Nadeau. When Nadeau refused to fight, Roy simply started wailing away with unrestrained intent. He pounded away on the opposing goalie, who quickly went into a defensive shell that hockey-fight lovers call "turtling."

Roy acknowledged this by throwing a few more rights and lefts into Nadeau before skating to center ice while raising his arms in mock triumph and his middle fingers in the universal derisive salute to Chicoutimi fans. He then got into still another fight -- with Chicoutimi defenseman Sebastien Rioux -- took a few bows and was escorted off the ice.

The classic movie Slap Shot couldn't have showcased it any better.

Now, there are a few things that remain unresolved, not the least of which is exactly what role the elder Roy played in all of this and why his son got seven games (two for bird-flipping perhaps?) as opposed to the old man's five, but the bigger storyline here comes down to two distinct issues:

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