KIJHL coach, players suspended after line brawl

Photo: Hockey TV

The KIJHL's Nelson Leafs will be without their head coach and multiple players for most of January after the league dished out several suspensions on Tuesday.

A total of 35 games in suspensions were given to the Leafs and another eight to players of the Beaver Valley Nitehawks after both teams took part in what appeared to be a planned line brawl to start the second period of a game on New Year's Eve.

The league announced that Leafs head coach Adam DiBella has been "suspended indefinitely pending completion of an investigation by the KIJHL into his actions during the game in question."

Nelson's Tyler Seminoff, Leighton Partington, Hunter Sperle and Ryland Mennie have all been suspended for eight games each. Each player receives three games for taking part in a staged fight, and five additional games for instigating multiple fights on the same stoppage.

Leafs player Marko Pavlovic has also been suspended for three games for participating in a staged fight.

As for punishment dealt to the Nitehawks players involved in the New Year's Eve royal rumble, four players have been suspended for two games each for participating in multiple fights on the same stoppage. These players include Gavin Tritt, Boris Hristov, Spencer Dixon-Reusz and Kaleb Percival.

The suspended Nitehawks players will return to action on January 13, as will Pavlovic of the Leafs. The rest of the suspended Leafs players will be eligible for return to play on January 24.

At this point, it isn't clear what started the line brawl.

There was 336 penalty minutes in the game.

Castanet has reached out to the Nelson Leafs for comment and will update the story when more information becomes available.

A line brawl to start the second period.

We expect nothing less from a “first class organization” like the @Nelsonleafs . pic.twitter.com/IRfExM8LlZ

— KIJHLSniper (@KijhlS) January 1, 2023