Red Wings-Avalanche brawl 1997
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Red Wings-Avalanche brawl of 1997 was a large scale on-ice melee that occurred March 26, 1997, at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, between two National Hockey League rivals, the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche. The brawl, called Bloody Wednesday, stemmed from a previous on-ice incident between the two teams during the 1996 Western Conference Finals. The incident was an extremely dirty hit, by Claude Lemieux on the Red Wings' Kris Draper.
Contents |
[edit] Previous incident
In Game 6 of the 1996 Western Conference Finals, Avalanche right wing Lemieux had cross-checked Red Wing center Draper in the back of the head from behind while Draper was on one knee attempting to get up from a previous check. Draper was in a vulnerable position where most hockey players would never apply a check, yet Lemieux not only applied the illegal hit but followed through driving Draper face first into the boards.
The hit sent Draper out of the game and into the hospital with a broken jaw, shattered cheek and orbital bone, which required surgery and numerous stitches. Draper did not return to play until the middle of the following season. The Avalanche would go on to defeat the Red Wings in 6 games, eventually winning the Stanley Cup.
[edit] The brawl
In the next regular season, although the two teams had played each other three times without incident, this fourth meeting on the night of March 26 was different. As tensions mounted early in the first period with incidents involving Kirk Maltby, Rene Corbet, Brent Severyn, and Jamie Pushor, a melee ensued at the 18:22 mark. Shortly after a collision between Red Wings center Igor Larionov and Avalanche forward Peter Forsberg, Wings enforcer Darren McCarty seized the chance to avenge his Grind Line teammate by escaping a referee's grasp and surprising Lemieux. McCarty laid many blows on Lemieux, who fell to the ice and covered his head (labeled "turtling" by the hockey media); McCarty managed to land a few more punches, drag Lemieux to the boards, and knee him in the head before the two were separated by officials.
Other players became engaged in the hostilities when Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy skated out of his net to defend his teammate, and was intercepted and blindsided by Red Wings forward Brendan Shanahan, who was skating at full speed, with an open ice body check. While Shanahan and Colorado defenseman Adam Foote fought, Wings goalie Mike Vernon went out to center ice meet Roy. Vernon, despite giving almost half a foot and fifteen pounds to Roy, sent him to the bench with a bloodied face. The fight between Larionov and Forsberg ended with Forsberg receiving a similar, more pronounced injury. Forsberg did not return to the ice, sitting out the remainder of the game.
After several more fights with according penalties, including a fight between Shanahan and Foote four seconds into the second period, the game continued. When the third period ended, the score was tied 5-5. Ironically, McCarty scored the winner against Roy in overtime, on an assist from Shanahan and Larionov.
[edit] Aftermath
Mike Vernon, who won his 300th career game, believed the brawl-filled game "brought the Red Wings together" in time for the playoffs. [1] Colorado head coach Marc Crawford (now head coach of the Los Angeles Kings), meanwhile, wondered why McCarty did not receive a game misconduct for his largely one-sided instigation and subsequent fight with Lemieux (McCarty received a double-roughing minor for that incident, and also received a fighting major later in the game). Subsequently, Avs right winger Mike Keane criticized Draper for having McCarty fight on his behalf. [2]
The Red Wings went on to win the first of two consecutive Stanley Cups.
The next year on April 2, 1998, Joe Louis Arena was the site of another Avs-Wings brawl. This time Patrick Roy challenged and then squared off with Chris Osgood at center ice. The referees called more severe penalties this time, as Roy and Osgood both received minor, major, misconduct, and game misconduct penalties. The two teams combined for 46 penalties totaling 228 minutes [3]. The Wings ultimately won the game 2-0, and would go on to win the second of their consecutive Stanley Cups.
The game and brawl is considered a defining moment in modern Red Wings history. However, as players began to leave each team through free agency, trades, or retirements, the rivalry began to die down. The Avalanche, who lost in the playoffs to Detroit that year, were ultimately able to look past the incident. Their success continued with a Stanley Cup victory in 2001.
Late in the 2001-02 season, a game between the Red Wings and Avalanche broke into a brawl (much smaller then the previous two) after Patrick Roy was run and Red Wing agitator Sean Avery started to fight the nearest Avalanche player. The brawl continued when Red Wing goalie Dominik Hasek skated down the length of the ice to confront Roy but tripped on a discarded stick. The brawl ended a few minutes afterward.
