Reasonable hockey fans have spent much of the past week sticking up for Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn of the Nashville Predators. Barry Trotz benched both forwards for game three of the Western Conference semifinals after they missed curfew, and then he benched them again for game four. It seemed like Trotz's treatment of the two had something to do with their Russian heritage, as Larry Brooks argued. The stereotypical Russian hockey player is a vodka-swilling, chain-smoking, floppy-haired pretty boy, and so they get away with less than their North American counterparts.

We bring all this up by way of regaling you with what allegedly happened with the Canadian national team over the weekend in Helsinki:

MTV3, the official broadcaster of the world hockey championship, reported on its website that Getzlaf, winger Corey Perry and a few other Team Canada players were involved in an incident with drunken Finnish fans following their Saturday night overtime loss to the United States.

Getzlaf was alleged to have waved his fist at the Finns and said that "you do not want this" of his fist.

Another report said proclaimed himself as "the captain of the Anaheim Ducks" and that he "threatened to knock everyone out in three minutes."

This, just like Radulov and Kostitsyn boozing 'till the wee hours in Scottsdale, Arizona, is hilarious. But of course the old-school culture uses one incident to indict a nation of hockey players and the other as snickering fodder. Sure, the IIHF World Championships aren't the Stanley Cup playoffs, but, then again, the Nashville Predators aren't exactly Team Canada. We say: carouse on, hockey players of the world. Do your thing.

Getzlaf in alleged Helsinki club incident [QMI, via LFP]