Punch-up in Piestany

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Players from both teams fighting over the entire rink.
Players from both teams fighting over the entire rink.

The Punch-up in Piestany was an infamous bench-clearing brawl between Canada and the Soviet Union during the final game of the 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Piešťany, Czechoslovakia on January 4, 1987. The brawl resulted in the disqualification of both nations, costing the Canadians a chance at the gold medal.[1] Several players in that game went on to play in the National Hockey League, including Brendan Shanahan, Theoren Fleury,[2] Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Mogilny.[3]

The brawl is also famous for officials having turned off the arena lights in a desperate attempt at ending the 20 minute melee.[4] Much of the blame for the brawl was placed on Norwegian referee Hans Rønning, who was selected for the game based on his perceived "neutrality" rather than experience; [1] Rønning was barred from officiating in another international game.[5]

Following the brawl, the International Ice Hockey Federation suspended the players involved in the brawl for 18 months, and the coaches for three years. The players' suspensions were later reduced to six months on appeal, allowing several players from both teams to return for the 1988 tournament in Moscow.[6] Both nations would earn a measure of redemption in 1988, as Canada won the gold medal, with the Soviets taking home the silver.[7]

The brawl dramatically raised the profile of the IIHF World U20 Championship in Canada, and now attracts a level of attention similar to that of the Stanley Cup Finals.[8] The fervent patriotism displayed by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation analyst Don Cherry in the aftermath of the brawl led to a sharp rise in his own popularity with Canadian fans.[4]

Contents

[edit] Hockey's "Cold War"

Canada and the Soviet Union had engaged in an increasingly intense rivalry since the Soviets first emerged as a hockey power by winning the 1954 World Ice Hockey Championships. From 1963 until 1983, the Soviets captured 17 World Championship titles[9] amidst repeated accusations from Canada that their teams were made up of professionals masquerading as amateurs, eventually leading to Canada boycotting the 1972 Olympic hockey tournament.[10] The accusations ultimately led to the 1972 Summit Series between the Soviet all-stars and Canada's NHL all-stars. The eight game series was won by Canada 4-3-1 when Paul Henderson scored the winning goal in the deciding contest.[11] The Soviets handily won a second Summit Series, held in 1974, against World Hockey Association all-stars.[12] The series led to the creation of the Canada Cup, held five times between 1976 and 1991. Canada won four titles, and the Soviets the fifth.[13] Also from 1976 until 1991, top Soviet club teams toured the NHL in what became known as the Super Series.[14]

The World Junior Championships were formally created in 1977, and to that point had been dominated by the Soviet Union with seven championships.[15] Until 1982, Canada sent either their Memorial Cup champion or an all-star team. Canada won its first World Junior title in 1982 following the creation of the Program of Excellence, and Canada's first true national junior team. They won again in 1985. It was clear that the Soviet Union and Canada were junior hockey's superpowers.

The "Cold War" culminated in 1987 with Rendez-vous '87, as the Soviet Union national ice hockey team played a two game series against the NHL all-stars in place of the NHL All-Star Game. The series was split, with the NHL winning the first game 4-3, and the Soviets the second, 5-3.[16] The 1987 Canada Cup followed, and was won by Canada two-games-to-one, with the third game being described as the greatest in hockey history.[17] The winning goal was scored by Mario Lemieux on a pass from Wayne Gretzky. The year started, however, with the final game of the 1987 World Junior Championship, and Canada going for gold.

[edit] The game

In 1987, the World Junior Hockey Championship was a round robin tournament. The team with the best record won the gold medal. Finland had finished their schedule with a 5-1-1 record to lead the tournament. Canada entered the game with a 4-1-1 record, and had already been assured the bronze medal. A victory against the Soviets would have guaranteed Canada the silver, and a victory by more than five goals would have won gold.[4] The Soviet Union, entering the game with a 2-3-1 record, had aleady been eliminated from medal contention. The matchup between the two squads was deliberately scheduled to be the final game of the tournament, as organizers expected one, or both, of the teams would be playing for the gold medal.[18]

The IIHF assigned Norwegian referee Hans Rønning as the referee for this game. Rønning was assigned based on his neutrality, despite being inexperienced officiating at the international level.[1] Upon hearing of Rønning's assignment, Canadian representative Dennis McDonald sought out IIHF supervisor of officials, René Fasel, hoping to convince him to change the assignment.[19] Aside from the question of his competence to call a game of this magnitude, the Canadians were also concerned about Rønning following an earlier game in the tournament he officiated vs. the United States. A skirmish had broken out during the pre-game warmups against the Americans three days earlier. The officials were not on the ice when the melee occurred, however Rønning randomly ejected one player from each team for the brawl. Canadian Captain Steve Chiasson was thus barred from the game against the Americans, as well as the following game for being assessed a match penalty.[20] Unable to convince IIHF officials to change the assignment, McDonald was left with a sense that something bad was about to happen.[21] Rønning's inexperience at that level was later identified as a significant cause of the brawl, as several stick infractions by both sides had gone uncalled, causing anger to rise between both teams.[4]

The game began as McDonald feared. Off the opening faceoff, Sergei Shesterikov elbowed Canadian Dave McLlwain, who responded by cross-checking the Soviet player. Neither player was assessed a penalty.[22] Five minutes in, Theoren Fleury scored the opening goal for Canada. Celebrating the goal, Fleury slid across centre ice on his knees, acting as if his stick was a machine gun, pretending to "fire" on the Soviets. Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president Murray Costello later said "It was an inflammatory act, completely unnecessary, lacking any sort of respect."[23] The first period ended as it began, with both teams playing over the edge, and Canada leading 3-1. Interviewed by the CBC during the intermission, Fleury stated "The boys are up for the gold medal. Everybody is so tense. Tempers are flying. It's really tough out there... I can't believe it. It's so tense. It's so tense."[24]

Early in the second period, the game was paused for a moment of silence in memory of four Swift Current Broncos players who were killed when their team bus crashed in Saskatchewan five days previous. The five minutes following featured far less pushing, shoving and stickwork.[25] However, just after the six-minute mark, following a minor scuffle that sent two players from each team to the penalty box, the teams resumed trading cheap shots as they traded goals to give Canada a 4-2 lead halfway through the game.[26]

[edit] "A real skirmish"

The scoreboard in the darkened arena showing Canada leading 4-2
The scoreboard in the darkened arena showing Canada leading 4-2

The brawl began off the face-off as Shesterikov collided with Everett Sanipass, leading to a fight between the two.[27] Soviet player Pavel Kostichkin also leveled a two-handed slash at Fleury, leading to another fight.[28] The battle quickly escalated into a line brawl involving all skaters on the ice for both teams. Returning from a commercial break, Canadian commentator Don Wittman understated the severity of the fighting by saying "well, we had a real skimirsh just moments ago following a face-off."[27] Evgeny Davydov was the first player from either team to leave his bench to join the melee, prompting all players from both teams to pour onto the ice.[4]

The brawl was especially violent at times. Mike Keane paired off against Valeri Zelepukin, with the Canadian "fighting like it was for the world title" according to Fleury.[29] In another fight, Vladimir Konstantinov leveled a head-butt that broke Greg Hawgood's nose. Brendan Shanahan later described it as "the greatest head-butt I've ever seen."[30] Stephane Roy was pummelled by two Soviet players.[31]

Unable to control the situation, Rønning and his linesmen eventually left the ice under the orders of Czechoslovakian officials.[32] In a desperate attempt at ending the brawl, tournament officials had the arena lights turned-off, leaving the players to fight in the dark as the Czechoslovak fans whistled loudly in disapproval of the entire situation. By the time the fights had finally broken up, the IIHF ordered the game suspended. [33]

[edit] Aftermath

The IIHF held an emergency meeting in an arena office to decide how to handle the incident. Each team was represented by a delegate, and led by IIHF President Gunther Sabetzki. The delegates voted 8-1 in favour of expelling both teams from the tournament, the lone dissenting vote being that of Canada's Dennis McDonald. [34] McDonald was incensed by the voting. Three nations - Finland, Czechoslovakia and Sweden all stood to gain medal position by voting the two teams out. The Americans only promised support if other nations supported Canada, while Sabetzki could barely control his disdain for the Canadians.[35]

After voting to disqualify the two teams, officials still invited them to the tournament banquet and medal ceremony. McDonald made it plain the Canadians were not interested. Sabetzki and Czech officials responded by ordering the Canadian team out of the arena within half an hour.[36] Upon leaving the arena, the Canadians were met by armed soldiers, and escorted across the border, and out of Czechoslovakia.[37] The IIHF voided the standing of both teams, including individual statistics. In the words of McDonald, "it was like we were never here."[38]

Both teams attempted to blame the other for allowing the violence to get out of hand. Soviet official Anatoly Kastriukov blamed a Canadian trainer for igniting hostilites by running over to the Soviet bench and "pummeling" one of their assistant coaches.[39] The Canadians, meanwhile, pointed to Davydov being the first off the bench as being the spark that lead to the brawl.[40] CBC commentator Don Cherry was one of the first to float a conspiracy theory that the Soviets had done so as a deliberate attempt to have Canada disqualified, and therefore lose a medal.[41] Alan Eagleson suggested that the IIHF's decision would have been different had it been the Soviets in contention for a medal, and not the Canadians.[42]

The IIHF voted to suspend all players involved from competing in international events for 18 months, and all coaches for three years. The player suspensions were later cut to six months, allowing eligible players such as Fleury and Mogilny to participate in the 1988 tournament. The IIHF also considered demoting both teams to the B pool as further punishment but backed off as the next year's tournament was set to be held in the Soviet Union, while Canada represented the only media revenue the tournament generated at the time.[6]

Among the Canadians, only two players were not suspended: Jimmy Waite and Pierre Turgeon.[43] Waite felt he could not risk being ejected for fighting under the belief that the game would resume, and that the Canadian backup goaltender, Shawn Simpson, was injured.[44] Steve Nemeth would later apply for early reinstatement arguing that he was not fighting, but trying to help break the players apart.[45] Many of their teammates never forgave Nemeth and Turgeon for failing to defend their comrades. In the words of Everett Sanipass: "I'm looking for someone to help Roy out and I look over at the bench. There's this dog Turgeon, just sitting there, with his head down. He wouldn't get his ass off the bench ... just sitting there when everyone's off the Soviet bench and at least one of our guys is in real trouble getting double-teamed."[46]

[edit] Players

Of the 20 players who dressed for Canada in that game, 19 went on to play in the National Hockey League.[47] In 1987, only one Soviet had ever played in the NHL, Viktor Nechayev. The players for this Soviet team would be among the first wave of Eastern Bloc players to arrive in the NHL with the fall of the Iron Curtain.[48]

Canada
Soviet Union

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c Burns, John F.. "Diplomacy takes hard check", New York Times, 1987-01-12. Retrieved on 2008-01-07. 
  2. ^ World Junior Hockey Championship - 1987. tsn.ca. Retrieved on 2008-01-06.
  3. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 296,310
  4. ^ a b c d e CBC Archives - The 'Punch-up in Piestany'. cbc.ca. Retrieved on 2008-01-06.
  5. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 188
  6. ^ a b Joyce 2006, p. 214-215
  7. ^ World Junior Hockey Championship - 1988. tsn.ca. Retrieved on 2008-01-06.
  8. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 254
  9. ^ IIHF World Championships. International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  10. ^ Merron, Jeff. Russians regroup on other side of the red line. ESPN. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  11. ^ Burnside, Scott. Super Series evokes memories of 1972. ESPN. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  12. ^ WHA vs. USSR. Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  13. ^ Canada Cup 1991. TSN.ca. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  14. ^ USSR vs. NHL. russianhockey.net. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  15. ^ IIHF World U20 Championships. International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  16. ^ Moran, Malcolm. "SOVIET TIES SERIES ON 2ND-PERIOD SURGE", New York Times, 1987-02-14. Retrieved on 2008-01-08. 
  17. ^ Canada Cup 1987. TSN.ca. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  18. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 116
  19. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 119
  20. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 111
  21. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 120
  22. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 123
  23. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 126
  24. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 130
  25. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 132
  26. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 134
  27. ^ a b Joyce 2006, p. 136
  28. ^ Hornby, Lance. "War on ice", Calgary Sun, 1987-01-05, p. 32. 
  29. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 139
  30. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 142
  31. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 143
  32. ^ "Fight kayos Canada, Soviets", Canadian Press, Calgary Herald, 1987-01-05, p. A1–A2. 
  33. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 147
  34. ^ Burns, John F.. "Diplomacy takes hard check (page 2)", New York Times, 1987-01-12. Retrieved on 2008-01-07. 
  35. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 148
  36. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 149
  37. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 157
  38. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 150
  39. ^ "Soviets put blame on Canada", Canadian Press, Calgary Herald, 1987-01-07. 
  40. ^ Fraser, Geoff. "IIHF aims to punish someone", Calgary Herald, 1987-01-08, p. C1. 
  41. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 164
  42. ^ Hornby, Lance. "Real tragedy for hockey", Canadian Press, Calgary Sun, 1987-01-05, p. 33. 
  43. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 177
  44. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 172
  45. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 176
  46. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 175
  47. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 25
  48. ^ Joyce 2006, p. 26

[edit] External links