Welcome to the Hotstove! As always, I'm your host, Travis Yost.
Saturday's blog will address a reader's proposition of covering the always-controversial world of fighting in the National Hockey League. Rather than post a 'best of' type of blog, we've decided to piece together some of our personal favorites for your enjoyment.
Tonight's roundtable consists of Shaune Vetter of the Calgary Flames, Bill Meltzer of the Philadelphia Flyers, Paul McCann of the Nashville Predators, Adam French of the Phoenix Coyotes, John Jaeckel of the Chicago Blackhawks, and Aaron Musick of the Colorado Avalanche.
Without further ado, let's get right into some of our preferred skirmishes over the years. Make sure to post yours and weigh in down in the comment section!
John Jaeckel: Bob Probert v. Darin Kimble
As I told Travis when he sent out the call for this blog, I almost don’t see how anyone could nominate an all-time greatest fight and not include the late, great Bob Probert.
I’m guessing some will include some of Bob’s epic (and better publicized) tilts with Domi, McSorley, Grimson, Crowder or Semenko. And they were all good.
I chose this one with Darin Kimble. Kimble went about 6’2, 210 and was not quite in Probie’s size class, but he was game as all get-out, as Probie acknowledged in his book, Tough Guy. This fight, in and of itself, is a bit one-sided and while a good one, is not all that spectacular—like the McSorley or Semenko battles that bring to mind a couple of T-Rex’s squaring off on the primordial savannah.
But what it does show—perhaps better than any other fight I’ve seen— is the greatest hockey fighter of all time at his best.
If Bob never fought once in the NHL he would have played as a third or fourth line guy for at least a decade. He had hands and hockey sense, and few players were stronger on their skates— Probie could also deliver some big, clean hits.
In this fight, you see Bob’s full repertoire— using his reach to keep a slightly smaller opponent at a distance and letting him punch himself out, going over and under with his right, then switching hands and doing the same with his left. His remarkable balance.
He was, and always will be The King of Swing.
RIP, Big Bob.
Bill Meltzer: Multiple participants, Philadelphia Flyers v. Montreal Canadiens
The pre-game brawl before Game 6 of the 1987 Stanley Cup Semifinal series between the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens will forever live in hockey infamy.
To some, it was a disgrace to the sport. To others, it was example of how the emotion and gamesmanship of the postseason can boil over on the ice -- and ultimately strengthen the teams' resolve.
Throughout the series, the Flyers objected to the Claude Lemieux and Shayne Corson end-of-warmups ritual of shooting a puck into the empty net on the opposing side of the ice. Before Game 6, little-used Flyers defenseman/enforcer Ed Hospodar and backup goalie Chico Resch decided to put a stop to it.
The pre-game warmups proceeded as normal, until only four players -- Hospodar and Resch for Philly, Lemieux and Corson for Montreal -- were left on the ice. Each side tried to wait out the other. Finally, Lemieux and Corson stepped off the ice, and the Flyers' players retreated to their bench.
It was a ruse. Lemieux and Corson stepped right back out, pursued by Hospodar and Resch. Hospodar unsuccessfully attempted to hook Corson before he tapped a puck into the empty net. Hospodar then slashed weakly at Corson, who circled away.
Lemieux followed in behind Corson. Hospodar grabbed him and started throwing punches. Resch stood in front of Corson, in an effort to prevent him from being the third man in. The veteran goalie and the Montreal forward circled each other slowly.
Meanwhile, word quickly got back to the Flyers and Canadiens locker rooms that there was a fight going on out on the ice. Players from both sides -- some only half-dressed and at least one (Philadelphia defenseman Doug Crossman) now wearing shower shoes instead of skates -- started to return to the ice.
There were no officials on the ice to attempt to break up the ensuing brawl before it erupted into several simultaneous fights.
As the situation escalated, Flyers' enforcer Dave Brown emerged shirtless from the lockerroom to do battle with his Montreal counterpart, Chris"Knuckles" Nilan.
Not everyone got involved in the fight, however. Back in the Philadelphia locker room, Flyers' coach Mike Keenan locked the door and refused to allow rookie goalie Ron Hextall to go back out on the ice, lest he risk injury before a game with a trip to the Stanley Cup Final on the line.
On the ice, the non-combatants mostly milled around and then tried to stay out of the way of the handful of their teammates who were throwing punches.
For instance, fellow pacifistic Swedish forward Pelle Eklund and Mats Naslund sought each other out and had a calm conversation in their native tongue as they held onto each other. They agreed that the whole situation was silly.
Silly or not, emotions ran to a fever pitch before things finally calmed down. Referee Andy Van Hellemond and the linesmen eventually came out on the ice and coaxed the teams to return to their locker rooms.
When the two sides re-emerged, they got down to the business at hand: determining whether the Flyers would advance to Cup Final for the second time in three seasons or whether the defending Stanley Cup champion Habs would force a seventh game.
The Forum crowd loudly booed the Star Spangled Banner and then roared when Montreal struck for a goal in the first minute of the game. The Habs continued to control the tempo early.
Philadelphia roared back with two goals in the second period and a Rick Tocchet goal at the 7:11 mark of the third period, enabled Philly to take the lead. The Flyers won the game 3-2 and earned a return trip to play Edmonton in the Finals.
Travis Yost: Multiple participants, Ottawa Senators v. Philadelphia Flyers
If this blog focuses on the 'best' fights, I'm not sure I go in the same direction. In terms of relevance, the Good Friday brawl between the Montreal Canadiens and Quebec Nordiques holds a special place in my heart. And, who can forget that incredible scrap between Stephen Peat v. T.J. Stock? Fantastic.
Still, my partiality here tends towards perhaps the most infamous 'brawl' that the Ottawa Senators participated in. On March 5th, 2004, the boys from the north and the Philadelphia Flyers engaged in one of the most impressive collection of PIMs - 419 in total - via fighting majors I've ever seen, and each scrap was better than the next.
Although not geographic rivals, the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers had played some pretty pivotal games against one another leading up to this fight. To fuel the fire, Martin Havlat was just returning from a two-game suspension for sticking then-Flyer Mark Recchi in the face.
With just under two minutes left, and the Flyers maintaining a sizable three-goal lead, the fireworks everyone expected to let loose did just that. It all started with Flyers enforcer Donald Brashear, locking horns with Senators goon Rob Ray. A few skirmishes later, and the two goaltenders - Patrick Lalime of Ottawa, and Robert Esche of Philadelphia - also dropped the mitts.
After the full-line brawl, the referees finally separated the two sides in an effort to bring some normalcy to the game. It lasted about two full seconds. On the next whistle, Chris Neil went directly after Radovan Somik. Because Somik wasn't noted for his pugilism, the Flyers were measurably upset, especially center Michal Handzus. In fact, Handzus' comments about Neil's targeting tactics after the game actually ensured the blood would boil over into the next game.
Handzus, enraged at the actions of Neil, immediately went after Mike Fisher. Bad move on Handzus' part, because Fisher definitely got the best of the hulking Czech centerman. Fisher dropped Handzus with a vicious takedown, but that wouldn't be the end of the melee.
Right after Fisher and Handzus finished their bout, Mark Recchi and Bryan Smolinski decided to tangle, and both got some pretty quality shots in. Two young talents - Patrick Sharp and Jason Spezza - also wanted to get in on the PIM action, and they dropped the gloves with one another. As decisive as Fisher's victory was over Handzus, the same can be said for Sharp over Fisher.
At the end of the brawl, both teams had just five players remaining on their benches. See, fighting can be quantified.
Jacques Martin and Bob Clarke - head coach of Ottawa and general manager of Philadelphia, respectively - had a nice war of words after the game. Clarke tried to approach Martin and let him know that the goonery from the Ottawa Senators wasn't appreciated, but officials stepped in before that got hot and heavy. Would've liked to see those two take the suit jackets off.
Shaune Vetter: Bob Probert v. Craig Coxe
No back-story. No revenge or paypack for some wrong committed by one team or historical rival. This is simply one of the best fights of all time. Bob Probert, the consensus heavyweight champ, fighting against little-known but willing combatant Craig Coxe, who may have given Probert the best fight of his career. On Don Cherry’s Rock-Em Sock-Em, he said over 200 punches were thrown in the fight. Now that’s just great entertainment!
Aaron Musick: Scott Parker v. George Parros
When looking for the toughest fighter, look no further than Scott Parker.
They say that underneath Chuck Norris' beard, there is another fist but under Scott Parker's goatee is another Scott Parker.
Parker, a 6'5 240 pound behemoth, would take on anyone to protect his team. Didn't matter if they were big or small, though he preferred big, if they wanted to go, he would go.
Even though he's retired and running a tattoo parlor in Colorado, Parker is still the toughest, still the best and still the fan favorite around Denver.
Paul McCann: Multiple participants, New York Rangers v. Philadelphia Flyers
Picking a favorite fight is like picking your favorite ice cream flavor; it’s pretty hard to do. So instead of picking my favorite fight, I will pick my favorite period in a game that featured five battles, four separate ones in the first period alone.
A warm April night in South Philadelphia was the setting for a late season game between the defending Cup champs and the hated New York Rangers. The two teams had battled all season, but this game had little on the line for the Flyers as they were already assured of the Patrick Division crown and a chance to defend their title. The Rangers were locked in a battle for one of the two remaining division playoff seeds as both the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames were in the race.
The Rangers jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 15 seconds into the game, which of course meant that a fight wasn’t too far behind. The first fight was four minutes into the game as a couple of high sticks led to Joe Watson dropping them against Jerry Butler for a spirited bout that was a simple warm up for the Rick Middleton / Dave Schultz bout that came four minutes later. Middleton was a rookie that season, he played two seasons for the Rangers before moving on to Boston and seemed to want to make a statement by going up against the Hammer. Not an unusual situation, but Middleton did get the worst of it.
After the Flyers tied the game, the third fight of the period broke out between Ross Lonsberry and Peter Stemkowski and right as the buzzer sounded to end the period another fracas broke out between Bobby Clarke and former Philadelphia Blazer, Derek Sanderson. They fought to a draw to end the most fight filled period I had ever witnessed.
None of these fights were individually memorable, but witnessing that period at the legendary Spectrum has stuck with me 35 years later.
Adam French: Shane Doan v. Ian Laperriere
You might be wondering why two semi non-fighters brawling would be my favourite fight, Well, in essence, it isn’t. I love violence, but tire easily at the mundane enforcer vs. enforcer.
Doan had a solid hit on Alex Tanguay which led to Laperriere going out to protect him. Doan being a Captain and a solid guy obliged and fought him hard to what I would say is at least a draw. What I remember most were the biased commentaries that often plague the TV. I hate to add so little to a discussion but I really don’t care too much for fighting in hockey unless it truly means something.
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