10th Anniversary of the Brawl in Hockeytown
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by user Alex Holowczak
Today is the 10th anniversary of one of the most famous games in the history of the NHL.
The most storied rivalry of the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche began in the 1996 Conference Championships. Claude Lemieux hit Kris Draper into the board face first, causing him serious injury. The Avs won then.
The first three matches in the following season between the two were nondescript, but the fourth happened 10 years ago today. The famous Brawl in Hockeytown.
It featured one of the most memorable goalie fights in the history of the NHL between Mike Vernon and Patrick Roy.
It also featured what became the norm in Red Wings-Avs matches, a howler from Roy to gift the Red Wings the equaliser at 5-5. (Think Statue of Liberty, and the one they lost 7-0 with Roy being useless...)
Darren McCarty became the hero that night, and this game shows how the old rough and tumble hockey was more interesting than the new NHL with stupid penalties, and no room for anything.
But enjoy the highlights, and the fisticuffs in the video above, on this historic day.
