Instigating KHL Hockey Brawl Costs Russian Team

A massive brawl on Saturday between Kontinental Hockey League teams Vityaz and Avangard has resulted in a large public relations hit for the league in Russia. On Sunday, the KHL struck back.

Between the altercations that took place during the pregame warmup and fights that occurred before the four-minute mark of the first period, the Vityaz-Avangard game in Chekhov, Russia was cancelled. With so many players receiving game misconducts for their roles in the incessant brawling, neither team could field even the bare minimum of five skaters and a goalie.

After interviews with on-ice officials and witnesses to the game, and what the league's press release termed "the review of videotapes," the following sanctions were announced by the KHL on Sunday:

Both teams have forfeited the game and were fined one million rubles. That's an American equivalent of $33,500.

Since it was determined that -- in playground parlance -- the Vityaz team started the fight, the franchise was fined an additional three million rubles ($100,750) for "harming the reputation of the KHL, its partners and Russian hockey in general." Vityaz was also "formally warned of a possible expulsion from the KHL in the event of a recurrence of similar violations," according to the KHL announcement.

Head coaches Alexei Yarushkin of Vityaz and Igor Nikitin of Avangard were each fined 50,000 rubles. Four players, including former American Hockey League enforcer Brandon Sugden and former Tampa Bay Lightning first round pick Alexander Svitov, were fined 150,000 rubles. Five Vityaz players, including Sugden, and one player from Avangard were suspended for one game.

Jaromir Jagr, the future Hockey Hall of Famer and two-time member of the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the early '90s, plays for Avangard and was forced to participate in a rare fight.

How is Vityaz, called an "embarrassment" to the KHL by Avangard's team president, responding in the wake of the brawl? The team has signed former NHL enforcer Josh Gratton and brought back notorious NHL fighter Chris Simon.