THE BATTLEFORDS - A TikTok video taken at a Saskatchewan Prairie Hockey League game has gone viral on social media.
The game took place Saturday night in Battleford between the Beaver Blues and the Turtleford Tigers. The full-on melee erupted with a pileup in front of the net at the north end of Battleford Arena, with goaltenders throwing punches at each other and multiple players following suit. The fights were so frantic that at one point one fan in the stands began to bang on the board glass enthusiastically.
According to eyewitnesses on Twitter, the brawl took place late in the third period with just seconds remaining in the game, at which point the game was declared over.
The TikTok video was shared by the Rosetown Redwings Hockey Club on Twitter, and was quickly picked up by followers on social media.
Later, another angle of the melee was posted on Twitter by Monday Nooner, with the comment "Can confirm all of the individuals involved have to work on Monday morning."
That prompted Sportsnet's Carly Agro to tweet out: "This has @SNKenReid written all over it. Especially the going to work part. Hands up if you’ve been to the Turtleford Derby and the Burger King in North Battleford. SPHL. Doesn’t mess around."
"I’d like to see what happened when they got home and had to explain what happened to their wives," was another reaction posted.
According to the stats from that game, Turtleford goalie Justin McDonald was assessed 46 minutes in penalties. Battleford’s Geoff Lang was assessed 14, while defenceman Jordan Mackenzie received 46 minutes. Other heavily penalized players from that contest were Battleford’s Kody Wolff with 17 minutes and Tyler Wasmuth with 12, and for Turtleford it was 19 minutes for Bailey Morin, 17 for Drew Nelson and 15 for Lyndyn Domotor.
In the end, Battleford won the game 5-2. Blake Fennig and Ty Jack each had two goals in the win for the Blues.
Other games from Saturday night saw Spiritwood beat Maidstone 7-6 and Maymont over Radisson 6-2.
The league is back in action Friday night with three games including Battleford in Radisson, Meota hosting Turtleford and Maymont hosting Maidstone.
This story has been updated to correct the 19-minute penalty as given to Bailey Morain, not Karstin McDonald, as originally reported.
