There's Nothing Better Than A Good Ol' Fashioned Tunnel Tilly
Hockey is a beautiful game. There's something poetic about being able to pair so much skill and finesse with some much violence and chaos. But it's a fragile combination. One which is delicately balanced to perfection. As all things should be. But sometimes that mixture isn't necessarily split 50/50. And when the scales tip a little too much toward violence...
Well that's when we end up with a tunnel tilly. A hockey rink is only 200 ft long and 85 ft wide. You can't always expect 17,000 sq ft to be able to contain all that violence and hatred. Sometimes that shit is going to overflow and the fellas are going to have to scrap in the tunnel.
And here's what's so great about a tunnel fight--it's not for the fans in the crowd. It's not to put on a show for entertainment. It's strictly for the squad. Obviously we're missing some context here but I can only assume that both of these guys were in the tunnel at the time because they just got tossed from the game. Their night could have been over, they could have just went to the locker room and been on their merry way. But no. They're defending the squad's honor and that fight doesn't just end because their skates aren't on the ice anymore. Just a couple of enforcer's enforcers right there.
Sidenote: That railing between these two tells me that this was neither the first, nor the last, tunnel tilt that has gone down at that rink.