Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe bites off more than he can chew in a fight against the Flyers’ Garnet Hathaway.

The Toronto Maple Leafs may have lost one of their best defensemen to an ill advised decision.

On Sunday night, after Philadelphia Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway made contact with Maple Leafs goaltender Dennis Hildeby, McCabe went after Hathaway in a big way. Unfortunately for the Maple Leafs defenseman he may have bit off more than he can chew.

McCabe would rough up Hathaway after the contact with Hildeby, driving his head into the ice several times, but when Hathaway stood back up the two men would drop the gloves. Hathaway would get his revenge by driving McCabe’s head into the ice as the two men fell awkwardly after a flurry of punches were thrown by both competitors, but this time McCabe’s head would hit the ice with much more force.

It was evident right away that McCabe was in very bad shape with the Maple Leafs defenseman wobbling on the ice and entirely unable to get back to his feet. The training staff would come out to assist McCabe but he needed several moments on the ice to recover his senses and it appeared as though he was still very unsteady on his skates as he made his way off the ice and towards the Maple Leafs locker room.

I do not expect that there is any chance of McCabe returning to tonight’s game. In fact I would wager that the Maple Leafs will likely lose McCabe for a while as a result of this incident, with it appearing to be a clear cut case of a concussion for McCabe. That is made all the more unfortunate by the fact that this was a situation that McCabe could have easily avoided and largely seems to have brought upon himself.

Update: Maple Leafs confirm McCabe will not return tonight.