REMINISCING: nine-year anniversary of a crazy game-opening line brawl against the Flames
John Tortorella was never really a favorite, but one thing that this man never lacked, is character and intensity. This man was never blamed for not giving his all, even behind the bench.
This sequence goes back to January 18th, 2014. At which point the Nucks still had the twins, Ryan Kesler, Kevin Bieksa, Roberto Luongo, Alex Burrows, and company. The Canucks were still pursuing a playoff spot with a 25-16-9 record but before this game, the Canucks were coming off a three-game-losing streak.
The Canucks were playing the Flames (who were 16-26-7 at that point) in Vancouver and Tortorella started his 4th line. Dale Weise, Tom Sestito (who had 213 penalty minutes that year), and Kellan Lain, on the back end Kevin Bieksa and Jason Garrison.
Bob Hartley was never one to back down from a fight since he's the one who initiated it sending his lineup card first and as you can see Tortorella was never happy with his call at all.
Obviously, we don't get that kind of sequence often anymore. Players that stood on the ice all received 15 penalty minutes which included ten for a misconduct and five for fighting, which added up to 150 minutes, and eight players were ejected. Do you miss the intensity and emotion that fighting brought to the game?
| POLL | ||
Are you glad that there are no brawls like these in the NHL now? | ||
| No, they need to come back | 36 | 67.9 % |
| Yes, players safety first. | 17 | 32.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
