Philadelphia 5, Ottawa 3: Five brawls break out in final two minutes
This game was about everything that is wrong with professional hockey. Philadelphia and Ottawa are two of the best teams in the NHL's Eastern Conference. Friday's game should have been notable for playoff positioning, or simply the fact that two of the top teams were going head to head. Instead, thousands of people went to a fight and, well, a bunch of fights broke out
Claude Lapointe and Mark Recchi scored 30 seconds apart in the first period, helping the Flyers beat the Ottawa Senators 5-3 Friday night in a game that featured five consecutive brawls in the final two minutes and set an NHL record with 419 penalty minutes.
"We're not scared of Ottawa and we're not intimidated by their talent," Flyers goaltender Robert Esche said.
Officials needed about 90 minutes after the game ended to sort the penalties. The previous record for penalty minutes was 406 by the Minnesota North Stars and Boston Bruins in 1981. The Flyers had 213 minutes and Ottawa had 206.
After the game, Philadelphia general manager Bob Clarke, captain of the Broad Street Bullies teams of the 1970s, went toward Ottawa's dressing room, but was stopped by Flyers officials.
"Their tough guy (Rob Ray) got beat up and then their next two lines fought guys who don't fight," Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I don't care what it shows them. We played a great game."
Well, the good thing is that this game at least gets my North Stars off the hook....
I was listening to an interview with Philadelphia's Tony Amonte on SportsCenter, and his attitude was that he thought the Flyers fans loved it. The sad thing is that he is probably right. I'd say something uncharitable about Philadelphia fans bein Neanderthals, but too many hockey fans all over the map would fit this description.
If professional hockey is to grow in popularity in this country, it needs to do two things. First, figure out a way to avoid a lockout in September. Second, curb- or better yet, get rid of fighting. Friday night's game should be something the NHL should be ashamed of, not something they could be celebrating. No other professional sport conducts itself in this manner. If what took place Friday night happened in an NBA game, arrests would have been made and assault & battery charges filed.
Friday's remake of "The Broad Street Bullies" is not something the NHL should be proud of. This type of brutality detracts from the beauty and the athleticism of the game of hockey, and it demeans the fans who value those things.
The NHL has it within it's power to get rid of fighting. After all, European hockey, and North American amateur hockey is almost devoid of fighting. There is no reason why the NHL can't travel down the same path- unless Gary Bettman is stupid enough to think that he needs fighting to sell his product. If that is the case, then I really do fear for the future of the National Hockey League.
