Former NHL Player Bludgeons Swedish Hockey Player With Stick

Here is video footage of a man coming up behind another, unsuspecting man and beating him. In almost every context, we would call this assault. But this is a hockey game, so it's just a penalty.

The guy doing the beating is former NHL player Andre Deveaux, and the guy being beaten is Per Helmersson. Deveaux started whacking poor Helmersson during warm-ups, for whatever reason. Deveaux's team, Vasteras, released him two games later.

After his release, Deveaux claimed he is "not a violent person," which may be true in the sense that he doesn't routinely club unsuspecting pedestrians. It's really bizarre what we tolerate as long as it's within the context of sports.

h/t NY Daily News