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AHL Players Involved in Wild Fight

Two AHL players were involved in a wild altercation.

Jacob Punturi

Apr 5, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Anaheim Ducks defenseman William Lagesson (37) moves the puck against the Seattle Kraken during the third period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
Apr 5, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Anaheim Ducks defenseman William Lagesson (37) moves the puck against the Seattle Kraken during the third period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
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A regular season matchup between the AHL affiliates of the Detroit Red Wings and the Minnesota Wild devolved into chaos as a wild fight broke out. The Grand Rapid Griffins and Iowa Wild met for a game that produced one of the craziest clips of scrum in recent memory.

The shenanigans between the Red Wings and Wild's AHL squads began with a check delivered by Griffins forward Elmer Soderblom sparked a scrum between the teams. The tempers began to flare from there and only escalated.

Post-whistle scrums continued throughout the game, and when Griffins defender Willaim Lagesson tied up with Wild forward Adam Raska, it turned into more of a WWE or MMA style fight than the usual shoving match.

Lagesson took Raska to the ground and then applied a crude chokehold on the Wild forward. With it locked into place, Raska visibly taps out. After Raska submits a few times, two officials come in to break things up and Lagesson relents.

The clip is an absolutely wild one. Take a look at this one shared by X account Griffins Nest. What makes the whole ordeal even crazier is that you can see one official's skates in the top of the frame, seemingly not doing anything while this is going on until another referee skates over.

The AHL can be a bit of the Wild West at times, and this was a prime example. As comedian and actor Rodney Dangerfield famously coined, "I went to a fight, and a hockey game broke out!" But according to the officials on the ice, this incident was just a classic example of roughing, and Lagesson was given two minutes in the penalty box.

The game resulted in 26 penalty minutes. The Griffins also came away victorious, defeating the Wild by a score of 5-2. But I highly doubt anyone will be talking about or remember the score of this game after Lagesson might have been the first AHL player to successfully make another player tap out with a submission hold.

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Jacob Punturi
JACOB PUNTURI

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