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Quebec Nordiques Montreal Canadiens bench clearing brawl part1

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• published: 28 Sep 2009
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Quebec Nordiques-Montreal Canadiens : Battle of Quebec part 2 "The Wildest Night of All" by Bruce Hood As Hunter was getting to his knees, he gave Carbonneau a little push on the back of his head. As the Montreal and Quebec players tugged at each other no one was throwing any punches yet I skated over and warned everyone to cool off and separate. While I was warning the players to calm down, Nilan came around from the right side, grabbed Quebec defenseman Randy Moller and sucker-punched him in the face with his left hand. There goes the cheap-shot artist again, I figured. I thought of Moller as a clean, honest player and couldn't understand why Nilan was picking on him. Until then I had thought cooler heads were going to prevail, but that punch had the same effect as lighting a dynamite fuse everyone else lost control. It acted as a license for other players to start letting out their frustrations and tensions, and the war was on. Nilan and Moller fell to the ice in back of the net and everyone else was piled in along the back boards. Montreals backup goalie, Richard Sevigny, was trying to pull a Quebec player away from the pile when the Nordiques backup, Clint Malarchuk, came over and grabbed him from behind. The two goalies separated and started fighting in the corner to my left. I couldnt believe it! What were they so upset about? They werent even in the game! All the other players paired off but no one else was fighting. I was trying to keep an eye on everything that was going on, but I concentrated on the main bout between Nilan and Moller, who were rolling on the ice below me. Just as things were beginning to settle down I heard the crowd roar and looked up to see Mario Tremblay and Peter Statsny throwing punches in front of the net. I didnt see who started the fight but knew right then I would have to eject both from the game. The rules state that if a second fight starts while a first one is in progress, the second pair receive Game Misconducts. Montreals John Chabot and Quebecs Andre Dore moved over to help their teammates and John DAmico jumped in and tried to pry Tremblay and Statsny apart. It was mayhem. The crowd was going wild, the players were going wild. And there was nothing I could do about it. My job was to keep control, but the players werent in the mood at that moment to listen to my opinions of how they should play the game. There was nothing I could have done to defuse it ahead of time either, because nothing had happened to warn me of an outbreak of this kind. It was crazy and I didnt know when it was going to stop. I think if Id taken the players aside, one by one, each would have said, I dont want any part of this. I want to go to the dressing room and rest up for the third period. But no one wanted to be the first to back off. As Statsny and Tremblay were being separated, Moller and Nilan were breaking away from the pile and getting to their feet in the corner. Moller was absolutely incensed. Who could blame him? He had a terrible cut on his forehead from Nilans sucker-punch and was bleeding profusely. Bob Hodges tried to keep them apart but it was no use. Moller was trying desperately to free his right hand and Nilan was doing his best to keep Moller pinned against the corner glass. Hodges finally managed to pull Nilan away but then Moller, left unattended, circled around and tried to get back at Nilan. Thats when I decided to go in and help out, even though my job was to stand back and observe the situation. I grabbed Moller by the back of his sweater and told him to calm down. Meanwhile, over at the far boards, Tremblay and Statsny had gotten to their feet and were tugging at each other. Behind them, Louis Sleigher and Jean Hamel were also pushing and shoving furiously. Everyone else was still paired off. After Moller and Nilan had finally settled down, Hodges went over to try and break up those dumb goalies, who were still sparring with each other near the boards. I then skated over to the far corner where DAmico was trying to pry Sleigher and Hamel apart. Then Tremblay, of all players, came over from the pileup in front of the net and tried to act as peacemaker. Unfortunately, what he did led to another full-scale brawl. He distracted Hamel, and Sleigher, with an opening, pulled back his left arm and corked him over the right eye. Hamel didnt see it coming and hit the ice like a fallen oak tree, out cold. Right then I felt another war coming on. Tremblay bent down to see if he could help Hamel, and DAmico wisely grabbed Sleigher and marched him to the Quebec dressing room. The Montreal trainer and team doctor rushed onto the ice to assist Hamel, who was lying on his stomach and seemed to be bleeding from his mouth. Again the players began to converge in front of the net. I had long since reached the end of my rope. I skated over and told everyone to get the hell off the ice and to the dressing rooms.