Bins and booze thrown as fight breaks out at Australian ice hockey game
Fights are nothing new in ice hockey, but they are usually confined to the field of play and rarely involve bins and booze being thrown.
The CBR Brave is currently without a chairman after a fight in the stands during a game against the Sydney Bears on Saturday prompted his resignation.
Brave chairman Peter Chamberlain was caught on video arguing with Bears players at the Macquarie Ice Rink before the players appeared to squirt water at him.
The Brave's manager, Andrew Deans, told ABC Canberra that Chamberlain then "tipped a little bit of his beer down on the guy" before a member of the crowd launched a bin at him, sparking an all-in shoving match between the fans.
Deans said the argument started after a Brave player had to be taken out of the game after a heavy hit following a Bears timeout in the dying seconds of the match.
Chamberlain has since apologised to the fans, both clubs and the league for his part in the confrontation.
"I let [my emotions] get the better of me, retaliating to what I thought was inappropriate [behaviour] but conceding in hindsight, that in doing so, I only made matters worse," he wrote in a club statement.
"I am fully aware that interacting with the players bench during a game is unacceptable behaviour.
"As chairman of the CBR Brave, I am responsible for setting the standards of culture and behaviour at our club and I am not proud of the role I played in this embarrassing incident."
Chamberlain has stepped down from his position as chairman until further notice.
Deans said Chamberlain had "been hung out to dry" and he hoped there was some serious action taken against the fan who threw the bin as well.
The Brave won the game 3-1 by the way.
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ABC .net
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