Now this is a hockey fight!
The 2022-23 NHL campaign has hit a boiling point with teams fighting and clawing for playoff positioning with just days to go in the regular season, but the biggest hockey highlight of the weekend didn’t come out of the league.
Footage started circulating online Sunday of a bench-clearing brawl that exploded during the final of the Division III Group A Women’s World Hockey Championship in Brasov, Romania, with the Bulgarian and Romanian teams throwing hands on the ice.
During the third period of the game, Romania hammered Bulgaria with a whopping seven goals, propelling them to a 10-2 win. This came after the two were already getting physical with each other throughout the contest, including two game misconducts and a fighting penalty that against Bulgaria. But things really got out of hand in the last moments. (RELATED: Boston Bruins Make History, Own Record For Most Wins In A Regular Season With 63)
When the buzzer sounded, two players started shoving each other behind Bulgaria’s net, and the scrum quickly turned into a rumble with both team’s benches clearing and coming onto the ice to fight.
Just look at this beautiful chaos:
BENCH CLEARING BRAWL AT THE WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP D3A BETWEEN ROMANIA AND BULGARIA 🇷🇴🇧🇬
554 penalty minute game.
🎥: Taylor Cheng on Facebook. pic.twitter.com/Qg2lRyDkHU
— Hockey Worldwide (@H0ckeyWorldwide) April 9, 2023
And when the smoke cleared:
19 players were given 25 minute penalties while Romania also was assessed a 20 minute penalty for abuse of officials. Of course with the tournament being over it means nothing, but we’ll see if the IIHF assesses suspensions for further tournaments.
— Hockey Worldwide (@H0ckeyWorldwide) April 9, 2023
The beauty of hockey, baby.