KHL player who tried to fight entire team could face criminal charges

Damir Ryspayev could face criminal charges for his actions in a recent KHL contest.

KHL goon Damir Ryspayev might be spending time this season in a very different type of penalty box.

According to reports, an opposing coach is seeking criminal charges against Ryspayev after the Barys Astana defender tried to fight the entire opposing team in an exhibition game on Monday.

“It is clear that the reason for the incident was the injury to [Barys forward] Dustin Boyd in a friendly match with our team on Aug. 5,” Kunlun Red Star coach Vladimir Krechin said. “We sympathize with [Boyd] and wish him a speedy recovery, but anyone who saw that incident knows it was purely a game moment in which the [officials] did not even [call a penalty]. Unfortunately, that happens in hockey. But what happened today is completely beyond the scope of not only the rules of the game, but also the norms of human behavior.

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“This is outrageous, so we appealed to all authorities, including the police of Kazakhstan, to investigate the incident and give it a legal assessment, as in a number of countries such actions are considered outside of sport and civil laws and often lead the liability up to the criminal.”

The incident in Monday's preseason game began when Ryspayev sucker-punched Red Star’s Tomas Marcinko, leaving the former Islanders draft pick unconscious on the ice. With his first opponent unable to continue, Ryspayev raced around the ice looking to tussle with anyone in a red jersey. He took swings at two more unwilling players before diving head first into the Kunlun bench in an apparent attempt to take on the entire team.

Ryspayev was subsequently suspended by the KHL through the remainder of the preseason.