Wild postgame brawl in IIHF game with Bulgaria vs. Turkey (Video)

Turkey and Bulgaria are neighbors with a bit of history. On the ice, things have been known to get a little tense between them during international competition.

The friendly rivals met in an IIHF U18 Div. III world championship round robin game on March 20, a game played in Bulgaria. It was a 1-0 victory for Bulgaria over Turkey, one that saw the winners outshot in the third period. It was also a game in which Turkey, the favorite heading into it, needed at least a regulation tie in order to move up to Div. III. Instead, they were shut out, and Bulgaria went on to win the bronze medal.

After the game, Bulgaria celebrated the win down the ice from a disappointed Turkey side.

As the video shows … something happened.

It’s an altercation near the penalty boxes, and the rest of Team Turkey doesn’t seem to believe what they’re seeing. This leads to a full-on postgame brawl between the teams, as the referees and level-headed players attempt to maintain order.

The best part of the clip, at around the 1:02 mark: Someone in the crowd appears to throw a trash can at the Turkish players, and Soner Ozmen just sort of catches it and hurls it away in disgust.

Out of all of this nonsense, Bulgarian captain Veselin Dikov was given 25 minutes in penalties for misconduct. Was he the catalyst for this? Was it someone from Turkey? Someone from the stands?

We didn’t find any information in local media reports on the game, so if you have anything to add, please hit us at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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