Goalie Fisticuffs

As their NHL affiliate in Winnipeg was laying a beating on the Philadelphia Flyers, the ECHL's Jacksonville Icemen and the South Carolina Stingrays were laying beatings on each other as these two minor-league professional clubs got into the rough stuff in their game today. While the ECHL used to feature their assortment of donnybrooks and fracases back in the day, the league rarely finds itself with a brouhaha that these two teams engaged in while trying to earn points in the standings. And it got really interesting when the two men with the most armour on decided to drop the gloves!

Charleston, South Carolina was the scene of this dust-up as Jacksonville's Michael McNiven and South Carolina's Logan Thompson, having just seen the roughness escalate in the game, met at what appears to be the South Carolina blue line, discarded the gloves, blockers, and masks, and rained blows down on one another!

As you're entertained by the scrap, there are a pile of details that we need to go over as we sort out this craziness. It should be noted that the 2600 fans in attendance today seem very entertained by this gladiatorial action.

It needs to be mentioned that this was the second fight to occur during this stoppage in play as Icemen centerman Everett Clark and Stingrays winger Cole Ully had already been scrapping down the other end of the ice. That's why there are no officials in the picture when the two netminders decide to drop the gloves.

Secondly, because this is the second fight during this stoppage in play, ECHL rules state that both players are assessed game misconducts. Those penalties were assessed to both McNiven and Thompson with Jacksonville's Adam Carlson replacing McNiven while South Carolina's Parker Milner finished the game for South Carolina. Both men were assessed a five-minute major for fighting and a game misconduct in a game that ended with 118 PIMs being handed out.

Third, neither of these players are actually affiliated with the NHL teams that the ECHL teams are. Michael McNiven is a Montreal Canadiens prospect who has played with the AHL's Laval Rocket and two other ECHL teams outside of the Icemen in the last two seasons. In a rather weird coincidence, however, McNiven was born in Winnipeg, and the Icemen are, as mentioned above, the ECHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets!

On the other side, Logan Thompson signed a one-year deal with the AHL's Hershey Bears before being sent to South Carolina, but he has not been signed by the Washington Capitals with whom both the Bears and Stingrays are affiliated. Thompson, ironically, also has Manitoba roots as he played in the WHL with the Brandon Wheat Kings before suiting up with the OUA's Brock Badgers in U SPORTS.

In the end, I'm not sure there was a winner or loser in this fight despite McNiven falling back and Thompson falling forward. I can say with certainty that South Carolina Stingrays did prevail in this game by a 2-1 score over the Jacksonville Icemen, so the home crowd at least went home happy and entertained.

A goalie goal on Saturday and a goalie fight on Sunday? This weekend got a little wild!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!