Club Hockey Just Means More: Massive Melee Breaks Out At The End Of Kansas vs Mizzou Hockey Game
"Biiiiiig raucous goin' on! We got punches thrown! We've got pushes being shoved! What is this, the UFC?? WWE??"
Couldn't have said it better myself. You know every we get a Border Showdown, it's going to be a battle. Doesn't matter if it's sports that actually bring money into the university like football or basketball, or sports where the players have to pay themselves to play like club hockey. In fact, I'd argue that's why the Border War between Kansas and Mizzou means even more in club hockey than it does in any other sport.
These guys are as invested in this thing as it gets. Emotionally, physically, and financially. It's not like you have a roster full of dudes on scholarships and making 6 figures off of NIL deals on the club hockey team. These guys are all in the hole. But they love their school, and they have too much pride in wearing that uniform to go down without a massie bench clearing brawl at the end of the game that requires a police escort off of the ice.
Now I'll admit the announcer was correct. This brawl more closely resembled wrestling than it did an actual hockey fight. A lot of guys just jumping on top of each other and dragging to the ice. It would have been nice to see at least a couple guys here drop the gloves, pop off the buckets, and really let some fists fly. But I don't know what the rules of club hockey say about that.
I do love the move of stealing a Mizzou player's helmet and then taunting him with it, however.
Because, again, this is club hockey. This isn't NCAA DI where you get all your gear for free. These fellas are paying for all their equipment. That's probably $250 right there. To a college kid, that's half a semester's worth of booze. If that's not worth fighting over than I don't know what is.
P.S. -- Love the move by a few of the Mizzou kids who stuck around for some postgame handshakes. All class out of those fellas. Hockey guys through and through. You can attempt to murder each other out on the ice but you better make damn sure you shake your opponent's hand after the game to show some respect.