Multiple suspensions, including head coaches, after massive brawl in the FPHL; apologies issued

Fights, even ones involving multiple people, aren't an uncommon thing in the Federal Prospects Hockey League. The bench-clearing crawl that happened in a game Sunday night between the Columbus River Dragons and Carolina Thunderbirds brought things to a whole new level, with even the head coaches getting involved in fights with players. Now, the FPHL has handed down its list of suspensions for the game and it is a lengthy one. We'll include video at the end of the story.

For the Columbus River Dragons, defenceman Nick Wright received five games, forward M.J. Graham gets three games, while both forward Will Laporte and goaltender Cody Karpinski get a game each. River Dragons head coach Jerome Bechard also received three games. All of the suspensions came with undisclosed fines.

For the Carolina Thunderbirds, defenceman Mike Baker received three games, while defenceman Dominik Fejt and forward George Holt received two games. As for head coach Andre Niec, who got right in the middle of the fist fights taking place between players and ended up losing his dress shirt in the process, he has been given a total of 12 games. However, the league says Niec's suspension is commuted to eight games immediately with an undisclosed probation period attached. If the probation is violated the remaining four games must be served upon violation. All of the above mentioned suspensions also came with undisclosed fines.

"After three games in three nights against the same team, emotions will always run high getting closer to the playoffs," said River Dragons head coach Jerome Bechard. "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."

"I was only acting in defense of my player," said Thunderbirds head coach Andre Niec. "I did not intend for anything to escalate to that level and I apologize for the incident's effect on the league and its member teams."

The brawl started after both head coaches started exchanging words and were ejected from the game with just over six minutes left in the third period. The two then attempted to square off on the ice and that's when all hell broke loose.

The video directly below clearly shows Niec involved in a fight with a player while losing his shirt. The one below that shows the entire fight sequence.

Source: FPHL

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