Saturday’s hockey game between the Hartford Wolf Pack vs the Rochester Americans at the XL Center in downtown Hartford was an interesting game. As for the scoreline, the visitors walked away with a 6-3 victory thanks to Isak Rośen‘s hat trick. But the scoreline was hardly the highlight of the night.

Why? Well, multiple fights broke out in the Rochester zone when the horn sounded to signal the end of the second period. The fight resulted in six ejections and eight fighting majors. But fans were only irked by the match officials’ actions during the fiasco.

When things got too heated on the ice

A post by B/R Open Ice on X from January 25 shared the frantic scenes from tonight’s match between the two hockey squads. “SATURDAY NIGHT’S ALRIGHT FOR FIGHTING IN HARTFORD,” reads the sonorous caption of the post, and it’s easy to note the excitement that the brawl prompted among the ice hockey fans. “Full on line brawl between the Hartford Wolf Pack and Rochester Americans (AHL) with a NEAR goalie tilt,” elaborates the post further as the accompanying video shows several members from both teams engaged in fist fights on the ice.

But all eyes were on the two goalies of the hockey match: Dylan Garand and Felix Sandstrom, who dropped their gloves and were ready to go at it without restraint. However, referee Adam Tobias quickly stepped in and did his best to not let the situation escalate further. But the fact that things didn’t go on to become more intense made the commentators frown. “Way to ruin the fun,” one commentator could be heard saying as the goalies had to call quits to the fight with the match official in between them. Interesting.

Alex Belzile could be seen talking to Rochester’s Graham Slaggert with his fists, while Brett Berard and Vsevolod Komarov also got entangled in their own private UFC-style showdown. The brawl resulted in 160 total penalty minutes in the match, but the fans were only agitated because of how the fights didn’t go on for longer.

Hockey fans grunt about not being able to watch more action on the ice

The 1,500 fans to arrive at the XL Center first were slated to receive a bobblehead figurine of Matt Rempe, who didn’t play tonight’s match because of his NHL duties with the New York Rangers. While having the toy in their collection was surely appreciated by the fans, they seemed to be far more amused by the fists that went flying. “Dandy,” wrote one amused fan, who obviously had a gala time watching the two AHL teams going all-in at each other.

“what is HAPPENING,” one fan still seemed bamboozled by the scenes that unfolded, but others were there to clarify things to them as well. “Fight night !!!!!” read another fan’s enthusiastic comment, while others continued to throw shade at the refs for their involvement in the brawl.

“LET THE GOALIES FIGHT,” one fan demanded, while another targeted the referee more directly. “Ref is a BUZZ KILL. Let those tendies fight!!” the fan could be heard fuming at how Tobias insisted the goalies didn’t engage and instead sought to keep a hold of the scenario. But this is what hockey’s all about! “The Beautiful Game,” one fan admitted why ice hockey continues to allure them, albeit with sarcasm. What did you think of the fight? Tell us in a comment.