Over the weekend past, the Melbourne Ice and Canberra Brave played out a tightly-contested pair of games in the Brave Cave, which attracted a combined 40 penalties in minutes (PIM) – a far cry from an infamous weekend in 2016.

That particular weekend included the two most-penalised games in the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) since 2013 – the only games since the league moved to 50 minute games to attract at least 200 PIM.

Here we take a look at the 8 AIHL games in that timeframe with over 150 PIM, in a walk down an angry memory lane. The top 7 of these include only four different teams as well – so plenty of repeat offenders.

1.     Melbourne Ice @ CBR Brave – Saturday, August 6, 2016 – 216 PIM

This might just be the most chaotic game in AIHL history. 19 goals, 216 PIM, six ejections, four goaltenders and a one goal win to an Ice team en route to setting a season record for competition points. Six different players also managed four points or better, and this game probably still gives Saulty nightmares on the scorer’s desk. This is the only time in the AIHL since 2013 that both teams have collected over 100 PIM, and there is every chance this game is still going as it took so long to be played.

Table 1: Melbourne Ice @ CBR Brave, Saturday, August 6, 2016

2.     Melbourne Ice @ CBR Brave – Sunday, August 7, 2016 – 200 PIM

The sequel to number 1 above, the 22-odd hours between the end of the Saturday game and start of the Sunday game didn’t do much to calm everybody down. With some suspensions from Saturday meaning Brendan Oakes and Mathieu Guertin missed this one, it game back with almost as many PIM as the day before – just a lot less goals as the Brave reversed the one-goal result.

This game had a longer shadow than many on this list, with 4-game suspensions handed out to both Lliam Webster and Stephen Blunden for their own version of the ‘Punch up in Piestany’. In Blunden’s case that meant he missed the return bout in the AIHL Semi Final – which the Brave won in OT on a Jan Safar goal.

Table 2: Melbourne Ice @ CBR Brave, Sunday, August 7, 2016

3.     Sydney Ice Dogs @ Newcastle North Stars – Sunday, August 3, 2014 – 188 PIM

The firs thing that stands out about this game is the massive imbalance in the PIM. The Ice Dogs collected the highest tally of any team in any AIHL game in the decade with 136. Billy Cliff led the way with 55 PIM of his own, while John Clewlow had a busy night – 2 goals, and 30 PIM. For the North Stars, only Hamish Powell did the heavy lifting on the penalty front – picking up 32 of his own.

Table 3: Sydney Ice Dogs @ Newcastle North Stars, Sunday, August 3, 2014

4.     Sydney Ice Dogs @ Melbourne Ice – Saturday, August 19, 2019 – 182 PIM

The most recent game in this list, the Ice Dogs and Ice wound back the clock late in the 2019 season in Melbourne and had an old-fashioned line brawl in this one, with the teams racking up 91 PIM apiece. AIHL all-time PIM leader, Dave Dunwoodie was prominent – but this time not in the penalties, but on the scoreboard where he picked up four points. The difference in this game came down to special teams as well – the Ice couldn’t score on the powerplay, while the Dogs took advantage of 3 out of 4 opportunities.

In the penalties, I don’t think there will be too many surprises to see the six players who were sent for an early shower in this one.

Table 4: Sydney Ice Dogs @ Melbourne Ice, Saturday, August 19, 2019

5.     Newcastle North Stars @ CBR Brave – Saturday, April 12, 2014 – 174 PIM

The first ever Brave game started with a bang in 2014, when the Newcastle North Stars welcomed the new team to the league with a barrage of penalties from both teams. A low-scoring affair with national team reps and some imports not yet available, this was a hell of a way to start out in the league.

As the oldest game on this list, many of the players involved are no longer in the AIHL. However, Tim Stanger and Pat Nadin are still in Newcastle, with Kai Miettinen and Matt Harvey still at the Brave – and both with Cup wins as captain. Jayson Chalker (now at the Rhinos), JFK (now at the Thunder, and a local), and Mike Giorgi (now at the Mustangs, and a local) are still around the league as well.

Table 5: Newcastle North Stars @ CBR Brave, Saturday, April 12, 2014

6.     CBR Brave @ Melbourne Ice – Saturday, June 13, 2015 – 165 PIM

A mid-season game in Melbourne between two heated rivals (even at this stage), this game got out of hand quickly – but resulted in only one player ejection. However, both benches were assessed Game Misconduct penalties at the end of the game, resulting in coach suspensions for the Sunday return bout (that was a much calmer affair).

This game also grabbed some attention when a falling Stephen Blunden was cross-checked in the face, which did little to calm the game at all. Overall, the Brave’s inability to score on the man-advantage was the difference – a powerplay of 1 of 13 tells a story.

Table 6: CBR Brave @ Melbourne Ice, Saturday, June 13, 2015

=6. Sydney Ice Dogs @ CBR Brave – Saturday, June 27, 2015 – 165 PIM

2015 saw the Ice Dogs at their nadir, in a season they finished with minus 1 competition point. Even with that, they pushed the Brave in this penalty-ridden game in Canberra that had 4 ejections – one of which was Mark Rummukainen’s second and final (at least for now – I’m still betting on a comeback as a 45-year-old goon in a few years) ejection as a Brave player – to go with a few more in Knights colours.

Table 7: Sydney Ice Dogs @ CBR Brave, Saturday, June 27, 2015

8.     Melbourne Mustangs @ Newcastle Northstars – Saturday, June 6, 2015 – 151 PIM

Finally, we get a new team on this list, with the Mustangs joining Newcastle to be the fifth team to register on this list (along with the Brave, Ice and Ice Dogs). That said, the Mustangs didn’t contribute many of the PIM for this one – with their 51 in total covered by Dayne Davis alone, who picked up 57 PIM.

For most of this game, it looked fairly calm by the standards of this list – until we hit the end of the game and finished it off with a game-ending brawl. “Ejections” (which became suspensions) for Joey Hughes, JFK and Davis helped bump up the numbers in (literally) the last second of the game, according to the scoresheet.

Table 8: Melbourne Mustangs @ Newcastle North Stars, Saturday June 6, 2015