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Whether you’re rooting for your lifelong favorite team or you’re just along for the ride to see the “boy aquarium,” hockey unites viewers universally with what’s arguably its best feature — the fights. These heated rivalries on the ice bring emotion to the game and can even get a crowd involved in more ways than one. Throughout hockey’s history, these top fights have earned a spot in the brawl hall of fame.
Ranking the Most Legendary Hockey Brawls
Recent scraps, like the goalie fight between the Panthers’ Bobrovsky and Sharks’ Nedeljkovic, have made their rounds online, reminding some of the game’s charm. Rules and regulations are in place now to keep players — and audiences — safe. But early in the game’s modern history, some of the sport’s most iconic brawls made for some pretty exciting viewing that couldn’t compare to today’s beefs.
Here are the top four most legendary hockey fights.
- Flyers-Senators Brawl, 2004
On March 5, 2004, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Ottawa Senators faced off, sparking a fight that set a record for penalty minutes and ultimately led to changes in the league’s rules. The game resulted in 419 total penalty minutes, 20 ejections and 21 fighting majors.
The regular-season game hosted at the Flyers’ home stadium gained momentum when lingering tensions from an earlier in-game infraction on Ottawa’s Havlat after he struck the home team’s Recchi. Soon, both teams were fully engaged in fights throughout the game, even inspiring the audience to boo if fights didn’t occur after a puck drop.
In the 2005-2006 season, the NHL issued stricter regulations for in-game fighting, threatening a one-game suspension and fine for players who instigate a fight in the remaining five minutes of a game, which still remains a rule.
- The Good Friday Massacre, 1984
On Friday, April 20th, during the second round of the 1984 Stanley Cup playoffs, a bench-clearing fight broke out between the Quebec Nordiques and the Montreal Canadiens. In sum, the brawl earned 11 ejections, 252 penalty minutes and a failure to eject the players in time. It was a massive-scale brawl, and particularly notable for being during a playoff series.
The fight broke out at the end of the second period, but when the same players returned for the start of the third, the fight simply continued. Rivalry tensions began in 1979, when the Nordiques joined the NHL, sparking the “Battle of Quebec” tradition and further contributing to an already tense environment. After the playoff game’s ejections, fury rose when Quebec had to play without its starters, while Montreal could make a move to come back.
Ultimately, the Canadiens defeated the Nordiques 5-3, though with so many ejected players and penalties, the game itself is less memorable than the aftermath it incited.
- Punch-up in Piestany, 1987
Ripe with tensions from the Cold War, the Canadian and Soviet Union teams entered a 20-minute-long bench-clearing brawl during the 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships hosted in Czechoslovakia.
This politically charged scrap helped put the championship on the map, as the nearly half-hour brawl ended not from interference but because those involved simply tired out. In an attempt to end the fighting, they turned off the arena lights. Even in the dark, the fights continued. Eventually, both teams, fighting for their country, were ejected from the tournament.
- The Avalanche-Red Wings Brawl, 1997
It’s rare and exciting when goalies leave their box to get involved in a fight. The game on March 26, 1997 between the rivaling teams, the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings, became so heated that the notorious breakout fights earned several nicknames — Fight Night at the Joe, Bloody Wednesday and the Brawl in Hockeytown.
The brewing tensions between the two teams first arose during the previous year’s 1996 Western Conference finals when Avalanche’s Lemieux slammed Red Wings’ Draper following Avalanche’s Foote’s 20-stitch injury after a hit from Red Wings’ Kozlov. Draper earned a broken jaw, and Colorado won the Stanley Cup that season. The following year, Detroit was ready for revenge.
Fights erupted at the end of the first period, leading to goaltenders Mike Vernon of Detroit and Patrick Roy of Colorado dropping their masks and gloves at center ice to have it out with each other. The game eventually ended with 18 major fighting penalties, 144 penalty minutes and a Detroit victory of 6-5 in overtime.
Honorable Mention – The Shoe Incident, 1979
While most hockey fights should stay on the ice, it would be remiss not to mention one of the more thrilling events that brought the swings to the stands. On December 23rd, 1979, the Boston Bruins faced the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden, New York.
After the Bruins’ 4-3 victory, a standard on-ice brawl broke out between teams, but was disrupted and escalated when an unruly fan hit Bruin Stan Jonathan on the head and took his stick. In retaliation, team members climbed over the plexiglass and charged the assailant. Intermixed with other punches with fans, Mike Milbury eventually caught up with the offender.
Milbury then removed the fan’s shoe, hit him over the head with it, and tossed it onto the ice triumphantly.
Though the team was not left unpunished, the incident is among some of the more ridiculous one-off sports scandals and a reminder that hockey rivalries should remain on the ice where they belong.
Why Fighting is a Part of Hockey’s DNA
Even the greatest hockey players of all time can get involved in what may seem like trivial squabbles. The truth is, hockey is an intense and emotional game. Oftentimes, players fight to self-police each other — if one player does something frowned upon, they might get a punch to the nose. The self-policing is also why you’ll see two players on opposing teams “pair off” during a fight to essentially keep each other out of it.
While there are written rules, particularly like those recently-added fines and penalties following particularly bad brawls, much of hockey’s gameplay and fighting standards are part of the game itself. Plus, fists are generally a much safer way to let off steam when players are otherwise armed with sticks, projectiles, and literal knives on their feet.
For the most part, players just want to play the game, and they’ll try to keep things civil to earn their team a win. But as Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the mouth.”
The Future of Fighting on the Ice
Though now there are many more written regulations in place to keep the brawls controlled, fighting is an essential part of hockey. Fans can safely engage with the turmoil from the stands, cheering on their team and booing rivals, or even booing if both teams are civil. Hockey can always bring the heat in the coldest arenas.
