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Sports

Wild, Out-of-Control Minor League Hockey Brawl Goes Viral

Jan. 23, 2013 3:30pm Becket Adams

The Grand Rapids Griffins and Rockford IceHogs on Saturday got into probably the closest thing we’ve seen to an old-school, Broadstreet Bullies-type brawl in a long, long time.

And it was a nasty one:

“Thirteen ejections, an AHL-record 230 penalty minutes and two fully engaged goalies packed extra umph into a fight that lasted — on and off — nearly 3 1/2 minutes,” the Huffington Post notes, adding that the IceHogs were wearing commemorative pink jersey “as part of Pink in the Rink breast cancer awareness.”

So what happened?

It all started when Rockford’s Kyle Beach and Grand Rapids’ Riley Sheahan started to duke it out mid-ice. After that, everything pretty much went to shambles. Even the goalies got in on it!

Screen grab

“Guys are sticking up for each other, and that’s a big part with us,” Rockford captain Martin St. Pierre explained to the Rockford Register Star.

Oh, yeah, Grand Rapids beat Rockford 11-6, but who remembers that?

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

Featured image screen grab. This post has been updated.

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Comments (57)

easye2984
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 1:30pm
Nice pink jerseys faqs.

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Tickdog
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 12:35pm
wow.. what a classy sport… jeeze..

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mikeg642000
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 12:19pm
Fighting in Hockey?
Say it ain’t so!

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vayapues
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 10:14am
I have season tickets to a minor league hockey team, and watch NHL hockey virtually every night. Usually multiple games. I can assure you that this fight is nothing special. I have been to at least three games with better fights.

Fighting is an important part of the game. Not because of the entertainment value, but because it keeps the players in check.

They are skating at 40 mph, carrying deadly weapons in their hands, razor sharp knives on their feet, and shooting a rock hard puck at excess of 100 mph. They have to be in control of their bodies, their sticks, and the puck at all times, or someone can be killed. Indeed as recently as 1996 someone was killed in an NHL game from an errant puck.

If a player is acting carelessly hockey rules allow the other players to self-regulate by beating him up. Sounds brutal, but it works, and it keeps everyone safe.

But again, this fight is nothing special. Just par for the course.

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joeslick
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:52am
I’ve seen better fights at hockey games. And it’s part of the game. These are best athletes in the world and trained for this activity. If you don’t like nothing but skating and scoring, watch figure skating with all those manly men who get flowers after they skate instead of black eyes.

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- TROONORTH
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:45am
  Give a hockey player flowers at the end of a game and he will cram his stick up you goal crease!
  
  Report this comment
TROONORTH
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:48am
Now that’s a sport! No full grown men running around in a heated building wearing shorts and sneakers.
Hockey! A real man’s sport, where the motto is; ” I’d bite your nose off . . . … if I had any teeth!”

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Mess23
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 7:24am
Pink uniforms!!! They are fighting to get their dignity back…

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raydg
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 1:44am
I was half expecting the Hanson brothers come out for the fight. For those who are old enough that is a reference to a hockey film “Slap Shot”.

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- stloocardsfan
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 10:07am
  ‘Slap Shot’ is not just a hockey movie – It is THE hockey movie.
  
  Report this comment
AnnCotton31691
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 8:23pm
What do You think about this ranking of top NHL fighters ?

http://theviral.info/share/704855-the-top-15-best-fighters-in-the-nhl

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- sillyfreshness
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 12:24am
  I’m so sick of men worrying about breast cancer. Women can do it themselves. It’s not like men don’t get cancer too. BTW, was there a black dude on that team? You don’t see that everyday.
  
  Report this comment
gz22ll
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 7:47pm
You can stop this with criminal charges. Break the video down and start putting on criminal charges until it stops. Once they start losing paychecks and landing in jail problem will police itself.

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- Texaslockstar
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 12:15am
  It’s hockey ! Pressing charges on them would be like animal cruelty charges on bull riders. Then what ? I guess from your point of view you need police chasing people running track.
  
  Report this comment
- Quagmir
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 2:39am
  every time an extra point in football they should be arrested as well. They happen as much and thats alot of head collisions which lead to brain damage. Kickers are causing brain damage folks!! all for 1 point.
  
  Report this comment
- atechgeek
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 7:58am
  @GZ .. spoken like a true liberal moron .. regulate everything. Why don’t we make crashes in Nascar illegal. Why don’t we make collisions and fights in horse racing illegal .. etc etc .. stick the leftist regulatory ideas where the sun don’t shine.
  
  Report this comment
Biggun26
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 7:04pm
I played against kyle beech when I played in the WHL in Canada. I just want to say that this kid consistently gives hockey a bad name. He has always been a problem with the hockey clubs he has played for. I can tell you exactly what happened here. Rochford was getting beat handidly and kyle beech wanted to start a fight to give his team a boost. But because they where getting beat so bad everyone else paired up. Which does happen. But everything went wrong when Kyle Beech got the other player on the ice and didnt stop punching him. That is when all hell broke loose. When emotions are running high in a game like that how couldnt you go help your team mate who is getting his head bashed into the ice. As soon as one guy jumps the boards there is no stopping it. Contrary to popular belief there is an un written code when it comes to hockey fights. I would know because i was a fighter for my team. When a guy is defenseless the opponent stops the fight. There is a mutual respect among fighters in all hockey leagues. And that did not happen here. Kyle Beech is the type of puke who will go after the smallest guy on your team and try to knock him into next week . He is a gutless player and has no respect for the game. He should be run out of hockey all together.

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- FieldJudge
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 1:37am
  “Hey, cute pink jerseys… makes your team look rather womanly. Only problem is your mother over there says your sister and her sorority girlfriends want you losers to give them back their girly jerseys.”
  
  Report this comment
dont-care-anymore
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 6:40pm
now thats how i wanna see our repub congress people treat the dims in cogress …. kick ass ans take names

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- BLACKDIAMONDSKIER
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 6:52pm
  I wish we could get some of these hockey players to develop another political party. I don’t think political correctness would be in their vocabulary. Plus I would pay good money to see the republicans and democrats get their asses checked into the wall.
  
  Report this comment
facilitiesmgr
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 5:53pm
How dumb!!!!!!!

I understand hockey is especially a high-intensity game, high emotion, high exertion, high tempo, but this is just stupid when there is complete loss of control by the coaches and the officials on the ice.

Anyone who leaves a bench to get into a melee should be suspended for a number of games.

Part of the problem also is the ignorance of the fans who don’t know anything about a fantastic game and come to see a bunch of degenerate behavior that is pandered to by the leagues, because it pays. I won’t go to a game anymore because I don’t need to be exposed to a bunch of ignorant, loud-mounthed, vulgar fans.

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- Sandy
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 6:17pm
  You are correct, It is dumb. I play hockey and love the sport. I wish they would take out the checking and the fights. In Football or Baseball, if you fight you’re ejected from the game. I wish they would force players being ejected when they start fights!!!!!!
  
  Report this comment
- Unix
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 6:30pm
  I’m surprised…they went to a fight and a hockey game broke out!
  
  Report this comment
- Quagmir
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 2:46am
  i dont think in any game you should be aloud to pass either. Lets tone down hockey all the way. lets just have an hour of shoot outs. Basketball will be 4 periods of free throws and 3 point shots. Baseball will be a home run derby. Football isnt a real sport so who cares. Soccer will be 1.5 hours of laps around the pitch followed by injury time where a coin flip will decide who scored the only goal in the game.
  
  You people are insaine. Fighting is part of hockey and you want checking to go away too? The fans love this stuff because it does get the crowd back into the game and builds momentum for a team.
  
  Report this comment
SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 5:42pm
.
Yankee Fore Play……..

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RightUnite
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 5:38pm
No real hockey team would EVER wear pink!! OMG!

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jungle J
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 5:33pm
sports…the land of fools and the mentally ill that abuse them.

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HelloWorld
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 5:03pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMWf3mWBjrY You’ll enjoy this one too!

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johnsmith500
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 4:19pm
Viral? You tube shows 47 views, mine included.

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- bpodlesnik
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 6:41pm
  Every video is “viral” to The Blaze.
  
  Report this comment
johnny8
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 4:14pm
having watched Bruins hockey for over 30 years, i can honestly say whomever thought pink hockey shirts was a good idea should be fired..! i can guarantee the opposing team was making fun of those shirts for the ENTIRE game preceding this brawl… hockey and pink do NOT mix…!

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HotFixIt
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 3:46pm
The fans sure had a good time.. my favorite part, the two goalies having it out.. you just don’t see that very often. Good time had by all! Wow, 230 penalty minutes, those refs had a time figuring that out!

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- HelloWorld
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 3:55pm
  I agree!
  
  Report this comment
HelloWorld
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 3:46pm
I bet they were tired of being ribbed for wearing pink.

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- Witness1974
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 4:12pm
  Yeah, with those uniforms I would think they’d have a brawl at every game.
  
  One of the most exciting sporting events I’ve seen was a minor league hockey game. I often wish I lived somewhere where that hockey is more prevalent.
  
  Report this comment
RoDogg
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 3:44pm
IMO, athletic abilities has evolved so much with people doing triple back flips on bicycles or jumping 80 feet while flipping on a snowboard etc…..

I think half of the team sports need to go away. Especially hockey and baseball and football. No real skill is needed for half the team. Linemen in football can weigh 300 plus pounds and barely run. These aren’t real athletes by todays standards IMO and all we do is prop them up with millions of dollars.

Watch the x games, the dew tour and red bull contests! You’ll see real athletic ability and they aren’t cheating or doing it for the money! True athletes IMO.

I even wonder how brave these guys would be if they weren’t covered head to toe in thick padding. Lets see them enter an octagon!

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- HelloWorld
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 3:47pm
  Pretty brave – most of the special forces and navy seals are ex-hockey players. They are true Americans. Lay off.
  
  Report this comment
- BobSevenEleven
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 3:55pm
  You aren’t covered “head to toe” in pads. You’ll notice they drop gloves, because if you punch with gloves on you’ll break your wrist, and if you have a helmet with a shield you take it off. Plus, as opposed to a giving floor of “the octagon” ice is not giving, and doesn’t exactly give sure footing. As for body blows, your shoulders are covered with pads, but your mid section (where body blows would land) is not.
  
  Report this comment
- 1RealAmerican
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 4:03pm
  You obviously have never been to a hockey game or ever met a real hockey player – I would like to see you get out on the ice and skate like these guys do and see if you still don’t think they are “real athletes”…..
  
  Just sayin…….
  
  Report this comment
- Just_Us2
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 4:08pm
  If you want to see pure athleticism watch the NFL combine. You will see those 300 lb linemen keep up with the backs in sprinting. They are light on their feet. Today’s linemen are not the slugs of old who just stood in the way. The game is much quicker and athletic along the interior line than it used to be. The people you speak of have not played the game for decades.
  
  Report this comment
- saranda
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 4:22pm
  @RODOG – if you believe the ex games guys dont do it for money then you have no idea what you watching. Those “kids” make huge sponsorship money. And I would put a 180 lb hockey player up against a 125 lb snow boarder in athletic ability most days of the week. As for baseball and football, they may contain an extaordinarily small amount of action but the athletic ability has improved dramatically over the past few decades, that said I find watching 3 hours of NFL game coverage for 12 minutes of action to be a complete waste of time.
  
  Report this comment
- Just_Us2
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 4:32pm
  FYI, an MLB game has an average of 8.5 minutes of play…..to go alone with the 12.5 avg play of a football game.
  
  Report this comment
- RoDogg
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 4:38pm
  @helloworld I wont lay off. lol.
  I will always speak my mind. Maybe I went too personal with the bravery and padding statement. I’m really speaking to the athletics of team sports. Hockey is definitely much more athletic than football and baseball. I’m just expressing my opinion on these traditional sports requiring far less skill than new sports of today.
  sorry if anyone took offense. There are enough trolls on here offending people!
  
  Report this comment
- HelloWorld
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 4:51pm
  RRODGG- I apologize if you think I was asking you not to express your opinion. I totally agree with how you managed this and I certainly did not expect you to get a verbal beat down for expressing your opinion. However, check out the following link and you will see why I feel so strongly about these guys. I know a lot of them and they are truly loyal Americans.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGNr08uow6k
  
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- RoDogg
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 5:02pm
  1realAmerican
  “You obviously have never been to a hockey game or ever met a real hockey player – I would like to see you get out on the ice and skate like these guys do and see if you still don’t think they are “real athletes”…..
  
  Maybe you don’t understand where I’m coming from. I’ve jumped cars on rollerblades. Sure its not ICE but I find putting a puck in a goal with a stick a few notches down in ability. I’ve been to Kings games. I’ve met hockey players etc. I just come from a different sports background I guess and I look at these sports differently. I know there is a level of ability with hockey, it just doesn’t come close to what people are doing in other sports these days. IMO
  I am not pulling my opinion out of thin air. I’ve done most team sports AND most action sports. I speak from my own experience having done both traditional and todays action sports.
  
  Report this comment
- RoDogg
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 5:21pm
  @helloworld…
  I watched yours. It was great. I do love everything military!
  
  Here is a video of BMXers going overseas and doing shows for our troops.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KNTynXe9kg
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO1LeGqLNAY
  
  Report this comment
- HelloWorld
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 5:42pm
  RODOGG – Thank you, I was very glad to see this.
  
  Report this comment
thegreatcarnac
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 3:43pm
Hockey…….a fighting match on ice…(yawn)

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- Al J Zira
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 4:31pm
  Don’t watch. The league will survive without you.
  
  Report this comment
- mbean
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 4:36pm
  Yuup its dumb.
  
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- burnteye86
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 5:54pm
  Wow. Fighting during a hockey game. That’s something you just don’t see very often.
  
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Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 3:43pm
I think we should do this in Congress and let Boehner beat the tar out of Nancy Pelosi and turn Paul Ryan loose on Harry Reid. It would be awesome!

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GoodStuff
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 3:42pm
This is why hockey tv ratings have plummeted. No one takes it seriously anymore. It’s no longer a sport, just teams fighting each other.

Hockey leagues have no one to blame but themselves for the lack of interest in the sport. Maybe Canandians love this crap, but most normal people don’t.

The only time I watch hockey now is the Olympics, where there is no fighting allowed, and they just play hockey.

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- BobSevenEleven
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 4:01pm
  Not to let facts get in the way, but hockey tv ratings have been increasing quite a bit in the past years. And this is also an AHL game, not an NHL game, therefore not televised nationally. You don’t see these in the NHL anymore.
  
  Report this comment
- scuba13
  Posted on January 23, 2013 at 4:15pm
  So goodstuff are you the new judge of what normal people like now? What is normal to you? You are just another snob looking down your nose at people who like hockey. Good for you.
  
  Report this comment
- loneindividual
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 2:13am
  Hockey is a sport….until you grab a Golf Club instead of a Hockey Stick, and Golf Shoes instead of Ice Skates.
  
  FORE!
  
  Report this comment

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