The Hong Kong, China Ice Hockey Association has filed a complaint to the International Ice Hockey Federation regarding the altercation involving the Turkmenistan team at the Asian Winter Games in Harbin.

Chairman Sherman Chan made the remarks upon returning to Hong Kong with the men's team on Thursday.

A brawl broke out after the SAR defeated Turkmenistan in a match on Sunday.

Three SAR players were injured.

Team captain Tony Leung hopes the altercation will not affect people's impression of the sport.

He told reporters at the airport that he appreciated the team's restraint in the altercation.

"Clashes are inevitable in ice hockey. This incident is very rare, especially as it happened during a post-match handshake," he said,

"At the same time, there are rarely fights in international competitions, or even during the match. Therefore, this is an exceptional case."

He expressed his gratitude to Chief Executive John Lee and Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law for visiting the injured players after the scuffle.

Coach Carey Durant said the team dealt with the adversity very well.

He said the team's performance in Harbin would be used for what he called, "a measuring stick” to roll out development plans for the association, as well as the sport itself.

"There were a lot of tears when we lost those games. And that's a good thing because that means our players expected to go all the way to try and win a gold medal," he said.

"We are going to get there. I promise Hong Kong that we will get there one day. It’s just a process that we take and we take this very seriously in representing Hong Kong."

The team wrapped up their journey at the Games by losing to top-seeded Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals.