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Goonery still appears to be alive and well in professional Russian hockey as defenceman Damir Ryspayev of Barys Atana, a team in the Kontinental Hockey League, has been hit with a lifetime ban after going berserk in a recent preseason game. Ryspayev was originally handed a lesser punishment, but Kunlan Red Star of Beijing appealed it and the league then decided to throw the book at him after reviewing the video evidence of the violent incident. Ryspayev lost his marbles in an August game against Kunlan in a preseason tournament.

The league said its competitions department and sporting and disciplinary committee had a good look at the tape and also took onto account the defenceman’s previous history of rule infractions while playing in the KHL. The league said Ryspayev broke several rules during the game regarding extreme roughing and fighting and that led to his banishment. In addition, the KHL said the suspension can’t be appealed to any court, but the league has the power to reverse the punishment if it so decides. Ryspayev lost the plot against Kunlan when he started to fight one of his opponents and ten went from player to player on the ice while trying to entice them in a fight.

He then skated to the opposition bench and attempted to fight with the players seated on it while the cameras were capturing everything. The KHL said the coaches and trainers of the Barys Astana team didn’t attempt to stop the violent outburst either. The league said that although hockey is a contact sport there are still rules that have to be adhered to. The rules must be followed to ensure the contests are fair and that player safety isn’t jeopardized. The KHL said the league is responsible for that safety and Ryspayev’s action were grotesquely violent and unacceptable since he intentionally tried to harm his opponents.

The league went on to say that there’s room for a fair fight in the KHL, but in this instance the player crossed the line by attacking anybody and everybody within reach. Ryspayev’s actions must have been quite a shock to the Kunlun Red Star club since it is new to the KHL. Ryspayev is just 21 years old, so he’ll now have to find a new league to play in. He played seven games with Barys Atana in 2014/15 with no points and 83 penalty minutes. He appeared in 16 more games last season and once again failed to score a point while serving 111 minutes in the penalty box.