For fans of a certain age, Sunday's wild scene at an OHL game in Erie, Pa., will bring back memories of Pat Burns charging off the Toronto Maple Leafs bench to try to go after Los Angeles Kings counterpart Barry Melrose in the 1993 Campbell Conference Final.
The stakes may not have been as high on this day, but the video shows plenty of bad blood between Erie Otters coach Kris Mallette and Peterborough Petes bench boss Rob Wilson.
The two were face to face between the benches and had to be separated by assistant coaches after a heated dispute in the second period of a game Erie led 3-0.
Things seemed to escalate when Erie's Alex Messier went after Peterborough's Francis Parish for a fight immediately after a faceoff.
As the coaches started jawing at each other, Messier also got between the benches and tried to grab Wilson or another Petes player.
Wilson and Mallette were both ejected for a fight off the playing surface.
Messier and Peterborough's Grayden Strohack, the third man in the fight on the ice, also were thrown out.
The Otters went on to win 7-2.
Both coaches certainly could face supplementary discipline.
The Petes are all but eliminated from playoff contention, but the Otters are fifth in the Western Conference and close to clinching a post-season berth.
Mallette was hired by the Otters last month to replace Stan Butler, who was fired following an internal review. Mallette was previously fired by the WHL's Kelowna Rockets.
Wilson guided the Petes to the OHL title in 2023.
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