Top 5 Most Memorable Bench Clearing Brawls in NHL

Fights in hockey are a natural occurrence that generally happens between two players taking off the gloves. But sometimes in the NHL, that scrap snowballs into something much larger, causing both benches to clear and everyone to brawl out on the ice. It doesn’t always happen, but we as fans are well aware of how integrated squaring off with one another is in the sport, which is why in this article, we’ll discuss five of the greatest bench-clearing brawls in NHL history.

5. Boston Bruins vs. New York Rangers – December 23, 1979

As the only brawl on this list involving fans, this infamous “shoe brawl” between the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers on December 23, 1979, would go down in hockey history as one of the largest bench clearers to ever happen. As the game was nearing its end, Bruins defenseman Mike Milbury hit the Rangers’ John Kaptain, causing New York and Boston players to spill onto the ice for a huge on-ice brawl – that was, before a random Rangers fan threw a shoe down at at one the Bruins players, causing all Bruins teammates to charge the stands to start fighting the guilty fans. Once the dust settled on this huge melee and the game resumed, the Bruins came out victorious 4-3 on the road.

4. Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins – November 26, 1983

In November 1983, a very memorable moment occurred between the Detroit Red Wing and Pittsburgh Penguins. Near the end of the game, tussling started between opposing players Joe Paterson and Marty McSorley, who continued grabbing each other’s jerseys but no punches thrown. In the next play, a Penguins player is viciously checked into the boards which only caused tensions to rise between the Red Wings and Penguins on the ice. Paterson and McSorley began to throw punches, with McSorley’s helmet getting knocked off from a slew of jabs. Soon after, the entire Penguins and Red Wings benches charged the ice, goalkeepers brawling, referees tackling players, and gloves thrown anywhere and everywhere. In the end, the game finished 7-4 in favor of Detroit.

3. New York Islanders vs. Pittsburgh Penguins – November 26, 1986

Another all-time NHL brawl occurred on November 26, 1986, right after the game between the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins concluded 3-2 with the Islanders coming out victorious. It is still unknown what actually initiated this brawl (although it was most likely celebrations after the game kicked it off), but we do know both entire teams charged out onto the ice, each player finding their opponent to scrap with. While it’s not clear who is fighting who on the tape, you can see gloves and sticks sprawled out across the ice, with both blue and yellow jerseys pushing each other up against the boards. In the end, players would be escorted through the tunnels to the changing rooms with security guards on high alert.

2. Philadelphia Flyers vs. Ottawa Senators – March 5, 2004

With the Flyers up 5-2 with just two minutes left in the third period of this March 2004 NHL match, all hell would break loose in one of the highest quantities of penalty minutes in any game of all time. With the game nearly over, the Senators’ Rob Ray would find himself in a close tussle with the Flyers’ Donald Brashear right in front of the Flyers net. Ray began to throw elbows at Brashear’s throat, to which he would respond with a flurry of punches, leaving Ray bloodied. As referees tried to stop the madness, players all over the ice started to fight too, including both teams’ goalkeepers. Eventually the madness died down and the Senators scored another goal to make it 5-3, but not before setting the all-time NHL record for most penalty minutes in a single game with a total of 419.

1. Calgary Flames vs. Detroit Red Wings – November 15, 2017

The most modern bench-clearing brawl in the NHL occurred on November 15, 2017 between the Calgary Flames and Detroit Red Wings. With the score sitting at 6-2 to Detroit with under six minutes left in the third period, the Red Wings’ Luke Witkowski would start a scrap with Matthew Tkachuk of the Flames. As Witkowski is seemingly ejected from the game and walks through the player tunnel, Flames players begin to physically harass him, causing him to respond by stepping back on the ice. This results in a massive brawl between the two bench areas. Unfortunately for Calgary, the game would end with an even larger deficit in favor of the Red Wings, with the final score being 8-2.