In all, the Grizzlies were handed 21 games worth of suspensions to 13 for Chilliwack for the melee that occurred following Victoria’s 2-1 victory at Bear Mountain Arena.

It will be a short-handed crew that entertains the Cowichan Valley Capitals tonight at 7:15 at the Bear.

Turner Lawson drew seven games for his role — three for leaving the bench to participate in a fight, two for participating in a fight at the end of a period and two more for leaving the bench area to provoke an incident.

Defenceman Kade Pilton was hit almost as hard with six games, two for participating in a fight at the end of a game, three games for leaving the bench to participate in a fight and one more for participating in the second fight during the same stoppage.

Keyler Bruce was tagged for five games — two for being assessed a major penalty for a blow to the head and three for leaving the bench to participate in an altercation.

Pilton, Lawson and Bruce all sat out Wednesday’s 5-4 overtime loss in Port Alberni.

Rounding out the Victoria suspensions were Blake Thompson, one game for participating in an altercation at the end of a game; Pearce Eviston, one game for participating in an altercation at the end of a game and Stefan Nicholishen, one game for leaving the bench to participate in an altercation at the end of a game.

“The ruling came down and, as evidenced by their ruling and their view, our players were more responsible than Chilliwack’s players,” said Grizzlies general manager and head coach Bill Bestwick. “We’ll be missing some key ingredients of our hockey team until the end of the month.

“It’s not very timely and let’s hope that our team’s depth and strength prevails and we get through this and we can all concentrate on the last six weeks of the season, come Feb. 1.”

Chilliwack, meanwhile, drew less suspensions.

Matthieu Tibbett received one game for leaving the bench to participate in an altercation at the end of a game; Jaret Babych, one for participating in an altercation at the end of a game; and David Thompson, one for leaving the bench to participate in an altercation at the end of a game.

More heavily hit were Tanner Cochrane, one game for provoking an incident from the players bench and one for leaving the bench to participate in an altercation at the end of a game and Shay Laurent, two games for participating in a fight at the end of a game and two more for participating in the second fight during the same stoppage.

Trevor Hills also received four games, two for participating in a fight at the end of a game, one for initiating an altercation at the end of a game and one for provoking an altercation at the end of a game.

Some suspensions seemed unbalanced as Pilton, Bruce and Lawson all drew three games each for leaving the bench to engage in an altercation, while Thompson — who on video was shown coming out of the penalty box to sucker-punch Eviston — got one.

The Grizzlies could appeal but, according to league rules, each appeal would cost $375.

Bestwick will instead have to rely on affiliated players to fill the holes on the roster, many of which were at practice on Thursday. Veteran BCHLer Brett Hartskamp, who was placed on an AP card before the trade deadline, will return to the lineup.

The Grizzlies also entertain the Vernon Vipers on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Bear Mountain Arena.

mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com

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