Chi-Town Shooters vs. linesmen: uh, wow.

so here's an odd item found at Avalanche blog Jerseys and Hockey Love, who got the story from HockeyRefs.com. I haven't seen this anywhere else yet. HockeyRefs.com describes what happens in this Chi-Town Shooters @ Evansville IceMen game:  
"At the end of the second period, Chi-Town defensemen Clay Lewis received a match penalty for slashing, a match penalty for spearing and a game misconduct for Category I Abuse of an Official for an on-ice incident where Lewis threw off his gloves specifically to fight a linesmen...pulled the linesmen's jersey over his helmet, and threw off his helmet before an IceMen player intervened."

the gloves are dropped around 0:50 here:



more about it: "...unofficial reports indicate that Lewis was playing his first game with the Chi-Town Shooters...This is the second serious on-ice incident involving abuse of an official this season for the All American Hockey League. Earlier this season Chi-Town Shooters forward Krystjan Jefkins was suspended for 20 games for a similar Category I offense, which involved Jenkins throwing five punches at a linesmen."

wow, TWO incidents with the same team? about all I know of the Chi-Town Shooters is that they're actually in Dyer, Indiana, closer to Gary, IN than to Chicago. and their website says they're a "Proud Affiliate of the Dayton Gems" (a level or two below the Toledo Walleye, I'm guessing!) and I guess they have anger management issues. the sites who posted this are clearly disapproving, but when I told a hockey fan friend (who hadn't seen the video) he laughed and said "that's awesome" more than once. I have that horrified/amused reaction that I have to a lot of unusual sports incidents. but I do think that although on-ice officials should expect to be heckled, and know they run the risk of a player accidentally knocking into them, it's reasonable to expect to not be punched at your job (it's reasonable to expect this of most jobs).

I'll let you know if there's any more mayhem from this team...