Player assaults fan in the crowd after fighting on the ice.

This video may cause some serious headaches for the National Hockey League.

A fan video has emerged showing Tampa Bay Lightning tough guy J.T. Brown getting angry at a fan and taking a swing at either the fan or merely his hand and causing the fans phone to be flung out of his hand.

TMZ who obtained the video had this to say about the incident:

As Brown was sent off the ice, Preds fan Brendan Johansen began to heckle him ... and that's when Brown reached up and smashed the cell phone.

We spoke with Johansen who says he's not mad and isn't taking any legal action -- but says he hopes the Lightning will spring to get him a new phone ... because his screen got shattered in the mayhem.

Brown is lucky the fan is so forgiving, some people who have lept at the opportunity to press charges or sue a player caught assaulting a fan on video in such a way. There's no doubt in our minds that both the Lightning and the NHL will go to great lengths to make sure that fact is planted firmly in his mind going forward.

[pub]