Danny Briere fined $1,000 for jab at Brandon Prust

Danny Briere has been fined $1,000 for jabbing and connecting with Brandon Prust's head from the bench at the end of last night's game against the New York Rangers. Scott Hartnell, who also swung at Prust but missed, was not fined.

Our friend Steve Whyno at Philly Sports Daily, who's quickly become perhaps the hardest working guy on the Flyers beat, shared the news:

Briere was fined $1,000 by the NHL for the incident, league spokesman Gary Meagher told Philly Sports Daily. Hartnell was not fined. Prust was not disciplined for the hit on Timonen.

Hartnell appeared to take a swing and miss, while it looked like Briere made contact with Prust's head. That could explain why Briere was fined and not Hartnell. Briere was suspended three games earlier in the season for a stick to the head of the Islanders' Frans Nielsen and was snubbed from the All-Star Game.

It seems like a fair punishment to me. You just can't swing at somebody from the bench, period. It's pretty indefensible, but at the same time a suspension would've been pretty extreme considering the inconsequential nature of Briere's punch. 

As great as Briere has been this year, we also know that he can so some really dumb stuff sometimes. This certainly falls into that category.