Unbelievable: A Brutal Fight Erupts Between a Hockey Coach and the Referee - at a Children's Game (Video)

Thomas Dulorme, left, trades punches with Jessie Vargas during a boxing match Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski)

In February, I covered a major on-ice fistfight between players for the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears and Charlotte Checkers.

That bout of fisticuffs resulted in a dude being horizontal for 10 minutes and then spending the night in a hospital following his TKO.

Hockey’s a rough sport, and fights are part of and parcel.

But how often do you see a referee get in on the action?

Against a coach?

That very thing happened recently.

Check it out (Language Warning):

Coach vs. Ref @spittinchiclets pic.twitter.com/0htEC7kDta

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 8, 2020

What’s perhaps most surprising is that the man in the vertical stripes appears to make first contact.

Refs starts contact…pretty embarrassing

— Daniel Mallon (@IamKaapoKakko) March 8, 2020

But, as with the Transformers, there’s more than meets the eyes.

As reported by local ABC5, the dustup occurred Saturday night in Kingston, Massachusetts during stickplay between the 12-years-old-and-under Springfield Junior Pics and Manchester Junior Monarchs.

Halfway thru the second period, the coach for the Monarchs started yelling profanities at the ref.

And banging on the door.

The ref hit the coach with a penalty, but it didn’t help.

Fast forward through more cussing, and the official threw the guy out of the game.

Here’s WCVB with a bit more context for the referee’s shove:

Witnesses said the coach then walked onto the ice and spat in the referee’s face. The referee is then seen pushing the coach on video, but Eugene Binda, the local referee coordinator and the referee’s nephew, claimed the official did it out of self-defense because he was being spat on.

Geez.

The coach is then seen throwing punches at the referee, and he eventually tackles the official to the ground.

Eugene — who’s officiated matches at the collegiate and pro level, said he was flabbergasted:

“I can’t believe someone would actually to that to a referee. The most disturbing part is you watch the players on the ice and after the altercation, you see some of the kids banging their sticks like, ‘Nice job.'”

Eventually, the coach was escorted from play.

The ref hung in there and finished up.

And according to fellow Monarch mentor Tony Dalessio, Coach Spitter’s been iced:

“This is not something we condone, it was wrong in every form and fashion of what he did, there’s no excuse for it. He’ll never coach for the Monarchs again and likely never for USA Hockey again. We’re in favor of anything USA Hockey does to further discipline him.”

Reminds me a bit of the rough universe portrayed in I, Tonya.

I guess there’s something about the rink that makes people wanna be tough — it’s hard and cold, like the world. Now get in there and give it h-ll!

And yet, we have things like this: