As for the confusing part, where should I start?  One minute it appears as though the players from the Allegany Arrows and the Tonawanda Braves were making a simple line change.  The next thing you know, players are running in and looking for a dance partner during this bench-clearing brawl at a Memorial Day lacrosse game in Western New York.  And when they are finished throwing punches, they exchange handshakes and high-fives?  Was this entire melee staged so that these kids can get famous on YouTube?

If that’s the case, I think it worked.

Hat Tip – [BroBible]

Among those enemies is West Virginia Power starting pitcher Tyler Waldron, who exchanged a few words with Harper after striking him out in the third inning of a minor league game last night.

After being called out on strikes, Harper stood at the plate and removed his gloves and helmet while jawing with Waldron before eventually following him back to the Power dugout.  That caused both benches to clear, but order was eventually restored before hostilities could escalate.

Harper also hit a home run off Waldron in the first inning, his fourth of the season.  He is currently batting .286 with a .554 slugging percentage and a .394 on base percentage.  If he continues to find success at the plate with the Hagerstown Suns, it may not be long before he is starting bench clearing brawls in the Majors as a member of the Nationals.

Hat Tip – [The Nationals Enquirer]

Just before the buzzer sounded to end the second period, Sioux forward Brad Malone drilled Gophers defenseman Kevin Wehrs into the end boards, sending his helmet flying and his teammates to the rescue.  The pushing, shoving, jersey grabbing, head-locking and face-washing ensued between both teams in front of the benches before order was finally restored.  When it was all said and done, 24 minutes in penalties and zero punches were dished out, making this one of the strangest bench-clearing brawls ever.

So, do you see any punches thrown?  Because I sure as hell didn’t.

Hat Tip – [Puck Daddy]

These games are not televised, but thankfully there was a fan in the stands who was smart enough to have their camcorder rolling, as they were able to record the entire melee from start to finish.

Things got heated when a member of the Buffalo Bandits refused to stop throwing punches following a fight after the referees had intervened.  That caused members from both teams to enter the fray and all hell broke loose from there.  It may be difficult to keep track of all the fighting that takes place in this clip.  Therefore, I recommend you watch it a few times, just to be sure you don’t miss a thing.

Hat Tip – [IL Indoor]

In a regular season finale between the Fayetteville FireAntz and the Knoxville Icebears, things got chippy at the end of the second period, and the end result would be an all-out 6-minute brawl with a total of 19 ejections, and an eventual forfeit from one of the teams.

So here is how the story goes…

The game featured two of the leagues top scorers in Fayetteville’s Robert Sich and Knoxville’s Kevin Swider (the two were fighting for the SPHL scoring title; this becomes relevant).  Late in the second period, the Ice Bears began to take liberties on Sich.  It continued until the end of the period, when he was either pulled, or jumped into, the Knoxville bench (0:45 second mark, you be the judge).  FireAntz coach Tommy Stewart at that point had no choice but to send his troops out onto the ice to defend his star player, and that is exactly what they did.

“They pulled Robbie into their bench and started wailing on him,” Stewart said. “We really didn’t have any choice. We sent all our players to go protect him, and they ended up kicking out 10 guys and me.

“It’s unfortunate because it was a good hockey game over halfway through, then things started getting chippy. They started taking liberties on Sich and we can’t jeopardize not having him for the playoffs.” [Puck Daddy]

After sorting things out, the FireAntz wouls have 10 players and their coach ejected, while the Ice Bears had nine.  Two more Fayetteville players would receive game misconduct penalties less than a minute into the third, and with nothing left to play for, they would intentionally get three delay of game penalties, forfeiting the game with only two players left to play on the ice.

What makes this whole ordeal even more bizarre is the fact that these two teams will be squaring off against one another in the first round of the SPHL playoffs, which begins this Friday.  And as for the scoring title, Swinder, who was not ejected from the game, would eventually beat out Sich, who was ejected for his involvement in the melee.

Here is a look at what transpired.  Friday should be interesting, to say the least.

Hat Tip – [Puck Daddy]

Thankfully it was brought under control before it could reach such a point.

Following the cheap shot, several Canadian players retaliated by going after Mancinelli, causing the Italian players to become involved as well.  Both benches cleared and some shots and words were exchanged.

Andrea Bargnani and Marco Belinelli, members of the Italian team as well as the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, were both seen attempting to break up the fight.  Footage also shows Canadian coach Leo Rautins having a heated conversation with Italian basketball officials once the situation was seemingly under control.  Whether they understood a word that came from each other’s mouth remains unknown.

Here is a clip of the incident.

Hat Tip – [TSN.ca]