Flyers–Senators brawl

Flyers–Senators brawl

1 2 3 Total Ottawa Senators 1 1 1 3 Philadelphia Flyers 3 1 1 5
Date	March 5, 2004
Arena	Wachovia Center
City	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,  United States
Attendance	19,539

The Flyers–Senators brawl was a line brawl that occurred during a National Hockey League game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Ottawa Senators on March 5, 2004. The two team's combined penalty minutes, 419, were the most in a single game in the history of the league.^[1] The game was played at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, which is the home arena of the Flyers.

The melee began with approximately 1:45 left in the third period and was initiated by enforcers Donald Brashear of Philadelphia and Rob Ray of Ottawa while the Flyers were leading the game 5 to 2.^[1] Once the fight between the two players ended and they began to skate to the penalty box, the rest of the players on the ice for each team, including goaltenders Robert Esche and Patrick Lalime began to fight.^[1]

At the next faceoff, Philadelphia's center Michal Handzus and Mike Fisher, the center for Ottawa, immediately began to fight. Approximately 30 seconds after that fight, another fight broke out involving all of the players on the ice, with the exception of the two goaltenders.^[1] Finally, a fight broke out between Patrick Sharp of Philadelphia and Jason Spezza of Ottawa. The game ended with a final score of 5–3, the Flyers winning.^[1]

By the end of the game, 20 players had been ejected for their roles in the brawl, leaving a combined total of five players on the team benches.^[1] The officials of the game took about 90 minutes to sort out all of the penalties that each team had received. In the end, the Flyers had 213 team penalty minutes and the Senators received 206, combining for the record total of 419.^[1]

Following the game, Flyers General Manager Bobby Clarke, who had taken issue with the Senators' tactics, had to be restrained from going after Ottawa coach Jacques Martin.^[2]

Previous incidents

The brawl was likely to have been initiated because of a previous incident between the teams. About a week before the brawl, the Flyers were in Ottawa for a game against the Senators. During the third period, Flyers winger Mark Recchi was following Martin Havlat of the Senators when he crossed into the Philadelphia defensive zone.^[3] As this happened, Recchi hooked Havlat, causing both of the players to collide and fall into the boards.^[3] When Havlat got up from the ice, angered by Recchi's hook, he took his stick above him and slashed Recchi, hitting him in the face.^[3]

Havlat was given a five-minute major penalty for attempting to injure Recchi, along with a game misconduct penalty. He was later given a two-game suspension by the NHL due to the incident. He was also forced to give up US$36,585.36 of his salary as he was already suspended previously for kicking Eric Cairns of the New York Islanders during a game earlier in the season.^[3]

Revenge was also mentioned after the game by Ken Hitchcock, then the head coach for the Flyers. During a post game interview with the CBC, making the comment "Someday, someone's going to make him eat his lunch. This is something, in my opinion, that the players should take care of."^[3] Mark Recchi also mentioned revenge, not specifically from the Flyers, during an interview with the CBC. "It doesn't surprise me coming from this guy. He's that type of player. He's done it before. It might not come from our team. But he better protect himself," said Recchi.^[3]

Penalty summary

Citations

References

• Philadelphia Flyers television broadcast (Television). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. March 5, 2004.