Head coach of B.C. junior hockey team resigns after league suspends him for the rest of the season

The head coach of a B.C. regional junior hockey team resigned Friday morning, following the league's decision to suspend him for the rest of the regular season after finding he directed a line brawl between players on New Year's Eve.

The Nelson Leafs has confirmed to CBC News that Adam DiBella quit his position after the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) announced its decision, which also included suspending the coach from this year's league playoffs.

KIJHL commissioner Jeff Dubois says the league determined that DiBella, 29, directed the multi-fight incident involving players of the Nelson Leafs and the Beaver Valley Nitehawks on Dec. 31. 

"The KIJHL has zero tolerance for these types of actions by any team staff member, and the severity of Mr. DiBella's suspension reflects the seriousness that we place on leadership and player safety," Dubois said in a written statement.

Early this week, the league announced that it had suspended DiBella indefinitely pending an investigation. It also handed out 35 games in suspensions to players from the Leafs and eight games to Nitehawks players due to the fight.

Under the terms of the suspension, DiBella would have been prohibited from visiting KIJHL facilities during any Leafs games, travelling on the team's bus and being on the ice and players' bench and in the dressing room.

DiBella would have not have been allowed to conduct official team business such as player meetings, trade negotiations and athlete recruitment.

The league has also fined the Nelson Leafs $5,000 and instructed it to take measures to ensure all team staff are sufficiently trained to KIJHL's standards of conduct. It requires the team to submit a report to the commissioner outlining those measures by June 1. 

The Nelson Leafs team still has 15 games to play in the regular season.