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John Tortorella suspended 15 days

Vancouver Canucks coach John Tortorella was suspended for 15 days without pay for an altercation in the hallway outside the Calgary Flames' dressing room during the first intermission of Saturday's matchup, the NHL announced in a statement Monday.

The league also announced Flames coach Bob Hartley was fined $25,000 for his "responsibility for the incident that took place off of the opening face off" in accordance with bylaw 17.3 (a) for conduct prejudicial to or against the welfare of the league.

"Mr. Tortorella's actions in attempting to enter the Calgary Flames locker room after the first period were both dangerous and an embarrassment to the League," said Colin Campbell, senior vice president of hockey operations, in a statement. "Coaches in the NHL bear the responsibility of providing leadership, even when emotions run high, and Mr. Tortorella failed in his responsibility to the game."

The Flames raised a red flag by putting their fourth line on the ice to start the game. The Canucks countered with their tough guys.

Defenseman Kevin Bieksa took the opening draw for Vancouver, and a line brawl broke out as soon as the puck was dropped.

Just 2 seconds had ticked off the clock when all five skaters from each team taking the opening faceoff dropped their gloves and began throwing punches.

McGrattan was left bloodied in a fight with Vancouver tough guy Tom Sestito. After the fight, Sestito patted Brian McGrattan on the back of the head.

Minor league call-up Kellan Lain's first game as a Canuck was brief. He was tossed for fighting with Calgary's Kevin Westgarth, who has no points in 21 games for the Flames.

Also receiving game misconducts were Vancouver forward Dale Weise, Bieksa and Jason Garrison. For Calgary, it was Westgarth, Blair Jones, Ladislav Smid and Butler.

At the end of the first period, CBC, which televised the game, captured Tortorella attempting to go into the Flames' locker room at Rogers Arena. Calgary enforcer McGrattan pushed him away.

Flames goaltender coach Clint Malarchuk came out of the Flames' dressing room after Tortorella and McGrattan were separated. Malarchuk followed Tortorella but was restrained by several members of Calgary's staff and McGrattan.

Much of the altercation appeared off camera, but another camera showed Vancouver defenseman Chris Tanev pulling teammate Alex Burrows back toward the Canucks' dressing room.

"Mr. Tortorella's suspension is retroactive to Sunday and runs through Feb. 2, a total of six games. He is not allowed to have any interaction with the team prior to, during or after games," the statement said.

The Canucks released a statement from team president and general manager Michael D. Gillis, saying: "We respect the decision made by the National Hockey League today to suspend John Tortorella for 15 days from Sunday, with no contact with the team for six games.

"We would also like to acknowledge our organization's full support for John and we look forward to having him back behind the bench soon."

As for Hartley's fine, the league said in its statement: "We are holding Mr. Hartley responsible for the actions of Flames' right wing Westgarth, who took the game's opening faceoff and attempted to instigate a premeditated fight with an unwilling opponent -- the Canucks' Kevin Bieksa."

Flames president of hockey operations Brian Burke issued a statement in response.

"I am perplexed by this fine," the statement reads. "I stand behind Bob Hartley completely in this regard and remain confident that he acted properly in every aspect of this game."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.