Florida Panthers rookie winger Eric Selleck is facing a hearing with the National Hockey League following his first fight in his first NHL game.
Selleck faces potential supplementary discipline for coming off the bench on a legal line change and immediately instigating a fight.
The 25-year-old instigated a fight with Carolina Hurricanes tough guy Kevin Westgarth with less than three minutes remaining in the Panthers’ 4-1 win over the Hurricanes Tuesday.
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The fight didn’t end well for Selleck, as he was dropped by Westgarth after just three punches and needed to be helped off the ice by teammates Brian Campbell and Erik Gudbranson. Selleck was assessed five minutes for fighting, two minutes for instigating plus a 10-minute misconduct on the play, while Westgarth received five for fighting.
Last month, San Jose Sharks forward Ryane Clowe was suspended two games for a similar incident. Clowe came off the bench on what was deemed a legal line changed and started an altercation with Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw on Feb. 22.
Selleck has accumulated 181 penalty minutes, along with five goals and 16 points, with the San Antonio Rampage in the American Hockey League this season.
In 2010-11 and 2011-12, Selleck had 214 and 204 penalty minutes, respectively.
The undrafted native of Spencerville, Ont., was called up by the Panthers Tuesday to fill the void of enforcer George Parros, who suffered an upper-body over the weekend.
