Minnesota high school hockey playoff game ends in brawl
A Minnesota high school hockey playoff game on Saturday between Eden Prairie and Benilde-St. Margaret ended in a bench-clearing brawl, which led to three suspensions for Eden Prairie players.
At the end of the game, a 1-0 victory by Eden Prairie in the Class 2A, Section 2 playoffs, players from both teams converged in the corner near the Eden Prairie goal to start fighting.
Officials stopped the game with .6 seconds left and met for an hour to decide the penalties, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Eighteen penalties were assessed because of the fight, with three Eden Prairie players receiving game disqualifications for fighting. All three will have to sit out the section championship game against Minnetonka on Wednesday, and the team will only dress 17 players for the game as a result.
“This changes everything,” Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith told the Star-Tribune. “We have to change our line combinations, we’ve got to shuffle our power play, we’ve got to shuffle our penalty kill.”
"No one likes to see it end that way," Benilde-St. Margaret coach Ken Pauly said. "I think there’s a lot of respect between the two programs, but let’s face it, you get a lot of angst out there. They’re disappointed, it’s a high-energy thing, it’s a charged environment."
[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88026gC3zII]
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