Russian hockey coach attacks fans

Andrei Nazarov, former NHL player and current coach of KHL team Vityaz Chekhov, was having a tough day at the office.

His team, near the bottom of the KHL were playing away to Dinamo Minsk and – miraculously – with only 15 seconds to play were only 3-2 behind. In search of an equaliser his team were employing every trick in the book, clean or dirty. So dirty, in fact, that the opposition fans started throwing bottles of water onto the pitch in a hint that Vityaz might want to, well, clean things up a bit.

So, what is a coach to do when his team is so insulted? Go on the offensive, naturally. Nazarov picked up a stick, turned to face the fans and launched a stunning, if entirely ineffective, attack. Repeatedly he raised his stick and brought it crashing down into the general direction of the Minsk fans. Unfortunately for Nazarov, fortunately for the fans, a two meter high sheet of plexiglass was between them – three mighty blows, and Nazarov’s stick broke in half.

Here’s a video of Nazarov’s rampage.

Sadly for Nazarov, although his antics have made him a global media sensation, his passion didn’t influence the outcome of the match. Chekhov played out the final 15 seconds without scoring and went down to their 14th defeat of the season, leaving them in last place in their division.

For his troubles, Nazarov was also handed a two match ban.