Bostjan Groznik of HDD Tilia Olimpija, a team in the Austrian Hockey League, got the party started last Friday with a blindside hit and tackle of a SAPA Fehervar AV19 player near the benches.
This started a mini-melee that seemed to calm down enough for the TV crew to cut away to highlights of its genesis; but it wasn't over yet:
Well that was … colorful. Here's a reverse angle video shot from the stands. Who doesn't love "Rocky" music during a hockey fight?
As this atrociously translated article indicates, Groznik and Chad Klassen of SAPA — a former standout at the University of Alberta and an ECHL player for Idaho — were both given 2-game suspensions for their role in his mass hugging with occasional punches. Solid first punch by Groznik, though; that's your text book "instigating" right there …