378 PIMs for Ak Bars and Traktor in Superleague

Tatneft Arena, KAZAN, Russia -- This story has been all over the Internet, and was even featured on Sportscenter last night, but I thought I'd include it here. In case you missed it, in their matchup Tuesday night, Russian Superleague teams Ak Bars Kazan and Traktor Chelyabinsk managed to rack up 378 penalty minutes in a bench-clearing brawl at the end of the game.

The fight started after Traktor forward Alexei Zavarukhin thought he scored with 34 seconds left in the third period, but the puck crossed the line after the referee had whistled the play dead. Ak Bars took exception to the extra effort, and Zavarukhin was leveled in the corner by two Kazan players, sparking the melee.

The referees made a feeble effort to keep the players from leaving the bench, but within seconds it was 22-on-22 in a bruising brawl that lasted more than five minutes. As the fight started to wind down, the Ak Bars fans can be heard chanting "Молодцы!" which translates roughly to, "Good job, guys!"

Ak Bars won the game 7-5 and currently sits in sixth place in the Superleague, while Traktor remains mired in 14th.

Here's a video of the whole affair, courtesy of my old employer, RTR-Sport.



On Thursday, the Russian Hockey Federation announced suspensions for 12 players. The longest went to Kazan forward Alexander Stepanov, who received three games for leaving the penalty box. He could receive another six games unless he pays a fine of 30,000 rubles (approximately US$1,200). Traktor forward and former Hartford Whaler Andrei Nikolishin received a one game suspension plus three games should he not pay the fine.

Speaking of the Whalers, this brawl brings back memories of the legendary tilt between the New England Whalers and the Minnesota Fighting Saints on April 11, 1975 in the old World Hockey Association. That fight set a WHA record for penalty minutes in a game at 217, a paltry total when compared to this Superleague fight.

You can watch a short piece about that night at the Hartford Civic Center below, or you can listen to the call from Bob Neumier here.




I must say that in all my years of watching Russian hockey, I have seen very few fights in the Superleague, and none at a live game. I'm not saying fighting doesn't happen over there, but don't think that this incident means the rough and tumble hockey of the NHL in the 1970's can now be found in Russia. Fighting remains much rarer than it is in North America, but probably more common than in other European leagues.

UPDATE: This was one of my favorite stories from the Superleague last year. Good job, Traktor fans.

Salavat Yulayev Bans Traktor Fans, Receives Fine

December 12, 2006 -- Salavat Yulayev Ufa has decided that fans of Traktor Chelyabinsk are no longer welcome at their stadium. The announcement came after a December 6th incident in Ufa when a person, identified as a Traktor fan by Salavat Yulayev officials, tossed a smoke grenade onto the Ufa bench during a game. The fan was immediately arrested and charged. Salavat Yulayev has also begun comprehensive searches of all persons and their belongings entering the stadium, and fans expressing support for Traktor will not be allowed to attend any games. Salavat Yulayev officials stated that they held Traktor entirely responsible for the incident, but the Russian Hockey Federation still fined the home side 300,000 rubles (US$11,500), because according to federation rules, the home team is responsible for the behavior of all fans in their arena, regardless of their leanings.