http://www.zippyvideos.com/7730074523497386/01-02-09-nottinghamvsheffield/

This clip is taken from an infamous meeting between the Nottingham Panthers and the Sheffield Steelers five years ago this week. The Panthers and Steelers are enormous rivals and though no longer the most important game in British ice hockey, still one of the highest attended. On this paticular night, the Panthers were struggling at the foot of the Superleague, the Steelers on the other hand only needed a few more points to secure the Superleague title.

Going into the 24th minute, the Panthers were trailing 3-1. Then the above brawl broke out and utter chaos ensued!!

The game was stopped for nearly an hour, the Panthers eventually won the game 6-4. An incredible night of hockey.

When the game had finally finished, a total of 451 penalty minutes had been called!

The most annoying thing is, a mate of mine who is a big hockey fan couldn't get to this game and offered me his tickets. But I said no, he may as well give it to someone else, because I wasn't a big hockey fan at the time. I bloody still wish I'd gone to this day.

Bloody unbelieveanle *shakes head*

I would not call that an incredible night of Ice Hockey, actually I would not even call it Ice Hockey.

A few fist fights between two players happen every now and then but that is way over the limit. I do not know what happened after the game, but in my opinion some of those players participating should be banned from playing for a very long time, like 20 years.

Hockey Violence In Britain

London (Reuters) – At one of their regular get-togethers, British football hooligans decided to play an impromptu game of hockey. Shortly after the game began, the participants remembered that they didn’t know how to play hockey. In the ensuing argument over who came up with the stupid idea in the first place, they reverted to an activity they were all more familiar with.

It is rather interesting that self-confessed sports fan / enthusiast / supporter Barmy Army is choosing to celebrate this "sporting" event. I'd be pretty annoyed if I had paid money to go that game.

Sigh, that was pretty sad. The players will be getting the blame for it but I would actually lump a very large portion of that blame on the linesmen.

When a fight occurs it is their job to manage and contain it and in this incident they failed miserably. Prior to the benches clearing out I saw several opportunities where a good pair of linesmen would have stepped in and brought things under control. They didn't and things just spiralled completely out of control.

What does this remind me of ...

Oh yes, one of the World Junior Championship finals between Canada and Russia. Both benches cleared in an all out brawl and even the goalies went at it. Refs couldn't contain it at all. In desperation, or more like utter stupidity, they hit every single light leaving the whole arena in complete darkness. What a no-brainer. That only makes things worse cause the goons *cough* players can't see where their sticks, hands, and skates are going. Of course, they're still going at it as ferociously as ever once they turn the lights back. What a complete travesty that was. :toofar:

[ February 15, 2006, 00:26: Message edited by: Beren ]

Celebrate? Hardly, I just thought some people might find it interesting. I confess I found it rather amusing, but then I have a bad side.
UFC!

Oh no, don't mistake us Barmy Army. Nobody can really call himself a true hockey fan if he says he doesn't enjoy a good fight now and then to break the monotony. ;) Unless I'm mistaken, our hockey treats fist fighting much more leniently than your football. But everybody's threshold is different. My mention of that Canada vs. Russia incident was just to express an opinion that it can become way overblown, mass stupidity, and a real and gross threat to safety.

[ February 15, 2006, 00:32: Message edited by: Beren ]

Theres nothing wrong with a few fights in a game. 2-3 is great. It means that the game was heated, but when things get out of hand its not fun to watch or play in.