This was not the way that you would want a championship game in any sport to be remembered. Keller High School should be celebrating their Silver League state title after defeating Arlington Martin 9-3 on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, the attention is being focused on the brawl that occured in the final seconds of the game, and rightfully so, because it got ugly.
Video is available in Puck Daddy's coverage of the incident. The Dallas Morning News also provides some insightful commentary.
The worst parts of the brawl can be seen in the first 7 seconds of the video:
High-school hockey brawl tarnishes Texas title game [Puck Daddy]
Keller-Arlington Martin hockey state final brawl hospitalizes player... [Dallas Morning News]
Video is available in Puck Daddy's coverage of the incident. The Dallas Morning News also provides some insightful commentary.
The worst parts of the brawl can be seen in the first 7 seconds of the video:
Martin senior Jeff SoRelle, who had been in the penalty box when the fight started, is then seen skating full speed into view and launching himself into Keller’s Travis Hall.
As SoRelle skates slowly away, he is leveled by a blindside hit from Keller’s Braxton Mills. Mills had been off the ice, in the spectator area, because of a penalty but returned to the ice during the brawl. In one video, he appears to leave the ice while launching into SoRelle, apparently hitting him in the head. SoRelle was sent sprawling to the ice as officials and others rushed in to break up the brawl.
David Ambler, the commissioner of the AT&T Metroplex High School Hockey League, said he was told that SoRelle suffered a concussion and a broken jaw.Interestingly enough, the video also shows another Keller player turning an Arlington Martin player upside-down and pile-driving him into the ice. Pretty nasty stuff.
The AT&T Metroplex High School Hockey League suspends a player for three games for fighting, but this was the last game for SoRelle and Mills, so both seniors will be suspended from all USA Hockey-sanctioned events in the future, [league commissioner] Ambler said. Keller coach Knute Anderson said Mills has been suspended from anything involving Keller Hockey.Players are getting bigger, faster and stronger all the time. Some hits can not be avoided and are part of the game, but there needs to be measures taken to discourage fights like this one. Otherwise, you will have more incidents like this one that take away from the enjoyment of the game and turn people off.
High-school hockey brawl tarnishes Texas title game [Puck Daddy]
Keller-Arlington Martin hockey state final brawl hospitalizes player... [Dallas Morning News]
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
