In ECHL action Saturday night, the Toledo Walleye took on the Kansas City Mavericks and an MMA tournament brokeout.
After Toledo’s Connor Crisp scored a hat trick midway through the third period, Kansas City forward Garrett Klotz punched Walleye forward AJ Jenks after play had stopped. Klotz then repeatedly cross-checked Jenks as he lay defenseless on the ice.
There was only one mature way to solve such complex issues: a line brawl!
Line brawl 1 + goalie fight
Massive brawl breaks out near end of Saturday's game between the Toledo Walleye and Kansas City Mavericks. Video courtesy @BCSNsports. https://t.co/MCpOYU3Wli pic.twitter.com/dmlT4QPeKR
— The Blade (@toledonews) February 11, 2018
As all the chippy players converged along the boards and began punching each other, Mavericks goaltender Mason McDonald joined the fray and began cross-checking any opposing players he could.
Toledo goalie Matej Machovsky didn’t appreciate that gesture too much so he skated full throttle down the ice. Then the two keepers fought.
Here is what started the entire brawl: An absolute cheap shot by Garrett Klotz on AJ Jenks. Almost the exact same thing that happened to Simon Denis last year. Unbelievable. Plus the replay of the goalie fight. pic.twitter.com/g13aQaYp0f
— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) February 11, 2018
Here’s what sparked the fracas.
Line brawl 2
Here was the second line brawl…Parker Reno got cross-checked in the face and that set off another melee! pic.twitter.com/Ao1gjvERjX
— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) February 11, 2018
With under a minute to go, the two teams had one last line brawl to properly punch-uate (get it?) the evening. All 10 players converged near the penalty box and began trying to punch whoever they could.
“Their coaching staff should be embarrassed. Their organization should be embarrassed,” Walleye coach Dan Watson said to The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe. “Klotz should be suspended for the rest of the year. I think he should be done. It’s unacceptable. Our league is trying to get rid of the image from the 1980s and 1990s. If this is going to continue… we’ll continue to get a bad rap.”
24 penalties and 110 PIMs were doled out to both teams during the game, including 79 during the first line brawl.
