KNOXVILLE, TN – The SPHL’s lone contest of Sunday, January 7 produced as many penalty minutes as some teams rack up in half a season.
About a dozen altercations at four different points produced a total of 221 PIM and led to three suspensions in a brawl-game reminiscent of an old west saloon scene. The game finally did play out, with Roanoke toppling a struggling Ice Bears team 5-1 and handing them their 9th straight loss.
At the forefront of the melee was Roanoke’s Sean Leonard, who was assessed a 3-game suspension. Leonard ignited the fuse in the first period when he dropped gloves with Knoxville’s Dawson McKinney and refused to stop. His suspensions were also a result of an unpenalized slashing incident involving Knoxville’s Justin Portillo. This after Portillo went after Roanoke’s Dominique Marcenkevics on the face-off.
Knoxville’s Cole McKechney incurred a 7-game suspension for a match penalty that involved a cross-check on Marcenkevics at 17:45 into the third, the infraction that incited the brawl of the day.
But the penalized player of the night award easily went to Portillo himself, who incurred a 16-game vacation for fighting, leaving the bench, attempting to injure, incurring a 4th game misconduct of the season, and just all around needing a time-out.
“I’ve been a diehard hockey fan for 30 years,” said Knoxville fan and video contributor Kara Stevens. “I love tough and passionate teams. In my opinion, the officials never had control of this game. There appeared to be a lot of chirping going on and tension escalated throughout the night. Roanoke Coach Dan Bremner played for Knoxville about ten years ago. In the third period as the brawls started breaking out, he became very heated and appeared to be trying to pick a fight with Knoxville Coach Harrison and GM/Owner Mike Murray. A Roanoke player threw a helmet from their bench and hit Coach Harrison in the head before Coach Bremner attempted to push the board separating the teams into Knoxville’s bench. That maneuver backfired as it bounced back and hit him in the head.”
Both Bremner and Harrison have declined to comment on Sunday’s game.
“It reminds me of some of the FHL games,” said another fan. “I saw a game where the benches went at it between the Danville Dashers and the Port Huron Prowlers several years ago. In that game, an MMA fighter named Chris Affinati knocked out Port Huron’s Goliath named Ryan Devine. Ryan is like 6’6″. This guy was giving up almost a foot, and he knocked him out with one punch. It was surreal. And ironically, coach Harrison was playing for the Dashers at the time.”
wins. Though this particular game ended in another loss, it was entertaining if nothing else. We are a loyal and resilient fan base and will cheer for our Bears no matter what!”
Photos courtesy of Michael King; Inside the Rink. See more game photos here:
Special thanks to fan contributor Kara Stevens for video footage