(RepublicanDaily.org) – What was supposed to be a friendly hockey game for charity became a fist-swinging spectacle between members of the New York Police Department and the New York Fire Department.
Video of the incident shows the benches of both teams – each belonging to the police and the firefighters – clearing out and engaging in fisticuffs on the ice as the crowd cheered in the background.
“The benches are cleared!,” a fan screams in the background of one of the videos circulating the internet.
Referees tried to break the brawl up, but were clearly outnumbered.
The game was reportedly halted for close to half-an-hour before play could resume, with officials and staff clearing out the various pieces of hockey equipment scattered on the ice and waiting for the heads of the members of both parties to cool down. The two teams went back up against each other, with the NYPD securing the victory in the end, 8-5 against the FDNY.
An observer in the audience noted that the altercation was one of the “crazier brawls” he has seen in his lifetime, and said that he was “not disappointed” by the spectacle in the arena that night. It was a thing of beauty, sports pundit Matt Reigle wrote, to see the two groups settle any “beefs” they had with each other with “some old-time hockey.”
Another sports publication, Deadspin, noted that the audience was witness not only to the breaking of the FDNY’s five-year winning steak that night, but also to the scene of the “finest and bravest” of New York City “trade blows on the ice like minor league goons.”
The game is an annual fundraising event for the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund.
Neither the NYPD nor the FDNY have commented on the issue as of press time.
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