KHL team Vityaz has once again made the headlines in Russia after the league disqualified their forward Jeremy Yablonski until the end of the season.

On Tuesday, KHL’s disciplinary committee was looking into the most recent fight with Vityaz players involved. The incident took place during the team’s play against one of the league’s leaders, Traktor.

The fight resulted in two major disqualifications of the instigators – both Vityaz tough guys – Jeremy Yablonski and Kip Brennan. The former was initially suspended for eight games, while Brennan got 12.

Given the fact that for both of them this was not the first such episode, the league decided to toughen the sanctions. Brennan’s ban was prolonged to 15 matches, while Yablonski got the maximum possible suspension – till the end of the season. Thus the league sent a clear message to the Moscow Region side, who seem to be playing a different kind of sport that is definitely not ice hockey.

On the other hand, the KHL authorities did not call into question the team’s place in the league.

Following the disciplinary committee meeting, KHL President Aleksandr Medvedev stated that the league has other “means of influence” on Vityaz.