Intense goalie fight turns wild, ends with a handshake and a laugh
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Jonathan Ouimet
Feb 28, 2026 (11:18 PM)
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Photo credit: ScreenShot
Will Cranley and Louis Domingue dropped the gloves in an AHL goalie fight, and Springfield Thunderbirds vs Charlotte Checkers suddenly felt personal.
This wasn't a staged moment for the cameras. It was two goalies deciding the temperature of the game had crossed the line.
The flashpoint came late in the third period with Springfield cruising toward a 5-1 win. A scrum popped near Cranley, and that's when it escalated.
Domingue left his crease and cut through center ice to meet him. That skate-over is the part that makes the clip feel unreal.
Goalie fights are rare, but the AHL has this special spice. The guys are fighting for recalls, contracts, and respect every single night.
Cranley is 23, drafted in 2020, sixth round, 163rd overall by the St. Louis Blues. He's still building his name in the pro game, and moments like this stick.
Domingue is 33, drafted in 2010, fifth round, 138th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes. He's been around, and the fact he went full send tells you how heated it got.
Louis Domingue and the Charlotte Checkers hit a nerve
Fans love this stuff, but you can also feel the «please don't get suspended» panic in real time.
For Springfield, it's a weird compliment. Teams don't charge your crease like that unless they're frustrated, and Cranley clearly took it as a line in the sand.
For Charlotte, it reads like a bench trying to wake itself up. When your goalie skates 150 feet to scrap, the room is screaming for a spark.
The real question now is what the league does next. Sometimes it's just penalties, sometimes it's a quiet suspension that changes the next start.
Either way, both teams will remember it the next time bodies pile up in the blue paint. That's how grudges get scheduled.
And for Cranley and Domingue, it's a reminder that in the AHL, even the goalies can't stay out of the story.
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