The goalies drop the mitts during a heated brawl in an OHL game

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Graham Montgomery
October 6, 2024 (10:25 PM)

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Hockey fans were treated to a rare goalie fight today after a line brawl broke out between Brampton and Niagara in the Ontario Hockey League.

Brampton is largely considered to be one of the best, if not the best team in the OHL this season. They are loaded with NHL prospects including the 2023 2nd round pick of the Seattle Kraken Carson Rehkopf. Additionally, they have one of the top-ranked prospects in the 2025 draft, Porter Martone, who is expected to be a top-10 if not a top-5 pick. Unfortunately for them though, they were handed their first loss of the season by the Niagara IceDogs today by a final score of 7-3

The Icedogs were led by the 2024 4th-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets, Kevin He, who recorded a hat trick and added three helpers for a remarkable, six-point night. His performance earned him a special shoutout from the CHL X account.

That being said, his performance was not the only part of the game that garnered a lot of attention. At one point during the game, He took a hit up high that the Icedogs took exception to. As a result, a full-on line brawl broke out as everyone on the ice grabbed a partner, including IceDogs goalie Owen Flores and Steelheads goalie Ivan Invankovic.

Unfortunately, the fight between the netminders was relatively short as the Icedogs netminder quickly got the upper hand and pulled his opponent to the ice, at which point one of the on-ice officials stepped in to break it up.

Still, goalie fights are rare at any level in hockey and they are always very exciting. Even a short-lived fight like this one often becomes the buzz of the town, especially in CHL markets. Be sure to keep an eye on the league this year for more goalie fights as they seem to be a lot more common in juniors than they are in the NHL these days.