Five River Dragons, four Carolina Thunderbirds suspended following viral ‘melee’ brawl
Five members of the Columbus River Dragons hockey team, including head coach Jerome “Boom Boom” Bechard, have been suspended by the FPHL following a brawl during the team’s road game at Carolina on Sunday.
Defenseman Nick Wright will serve a five game suspension. Bechard and forward M.J. Graham will serve three game suspensions. Forward Will Laporte and goaltender Cody Karpinski will each serve one game suspensions.
The game featured more than 150 penalty minutes and multiple ejections from each team — including both head coaches — at the 13:37 mark of the third period.
The fight sparked when Bechard and Thunderbirds coach Andre Niec started yelling back and forth. Eventually players got involved and began brawling all over the ice.
One River Dragons player emerged from the penalty box and ran into a Thunderbirds player, prompting the play-by-play commentator to exclaim, “It’s a melee!”
Here’s a video of the incident, which cuts in as referees try to escort the coaches off the ice.
“After three games in three nights against the same team, emotions will always run high getting closer to the playoffs” Bechard said in a team release. “But during that weekend lines were crossed and it was regrettable for all involved. Unfortunately the hotter heads got the better of the situation on Sunday and we all have to learn from our mistakes. We are happy to leave this issue in the past and focus on a very important series coming up against Danville.”
Four members of the Thunderbirds also received suspensions, including Niec. Niec’s 12 game suspension is commuted to 8 games immediately with an undisclosed probation period attached. If the probation is violated, the remaining four games must be served upon violation.
Niec said in a release that he “did not intend” on the incident escalating to the level it did, and that he was acting in defense of his player.
Both teams were also handed undisclosed fines.
As of Thursday morning, the River Dragons do not plan to appeal the suspensions, according to a team spokesperson.
