21 Years Ago Today - Fight Night at the Joe

[Claypool]

I think I remember reading/hearing that there’s no past grudges between all these guys now. Like Draper/McCarty and Lemieux have done signings together and will ask how the families are doing if they run into each other at the airport. Apparently Lemieux never even apologized.

According to Draper, Lemieux only spoke to him once since the incident in at the 2014 NHL draft. But no, Lemieux never apologized.

There Will Be Blood | By Kris Draper

 

[The Wizard of Oz]

I'll always have the fond memory of the Wings getting tossed out of the West by blowing a 3-1 series lead to my Blackhawks in OT of Game 7.
A fitting end.

To be fair that Wings roster shouldn't have been in that position in the first place. That core was out of gas. Hawks won that series when our GM picked Franzen over Hossa.

 

[Hatter of the Beach]

Darren McCarty's actions that night were complete gutlessness and cowardly.

Amazing how poorly he did in the re-match when he had to look Lemieux in the face and Lemieux could defend himself and fight back

Lmfao get over it or find another sport/KYS. Shit happens. Claude did his fair share of gutless stuff.

 

[4thlineduster]

I remember that game and being absolutely floored by what I was watching.

Just watching the original posts highlight video I was thinking to myself how eventful that game was and you don’t see that many highlight worthy hits, fights, etc. in a game these days.............then I realized the video wasn’t even in the second period yet.

What a game

 

[Hatter of the Beach]

I'll always have the fond memory of the Wings getting tossed out of the West by blowing a 3-1 series lead to my Blackhawks in OT of Game 7.
A fitting end.

Fitting? How so?

The Wings have historically owned the Hawks, just objectively. Better head to head record by a considerable margin as far as head to head goes, and almost twice as many cups. Relative to history, it’d be the opposite. Unless you’re suggesting the “how the mighty have finally fallen for the last time” angle.

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

Thankfully hockey isnt played like that anymore. Granted the rivalry was great and the heated environment is what you want but half of those hits were bad intentions and guys punching while guys are down.

Id rather skilled hockey than ten fights

 

[Claypool]

Thankfully hockey isnt played like that anymore. Granted the rivalry was great and the heated environment is what you want but half of those hits were bad intentions and guys punching while guys are down.

Id rather skilled hockey than ten fights

They were arguably the two most skilled teams in hockey.

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

They were arguably the two most skilled teams in hockey.

And they spent half the game throwing fists

I didnt say they werent skilled

 

[Dey so soff*]

Certain fans, most of certain teams, long for every game to be like this...

 

[TheAngryHank]

Mike Knuble's first game.

Came to post this...
Welcome to the NHL rook

 

[sandysan]

Came to post this...
Welcome to the NHL rook

I think they mispronounced his name as well as mike knoble

 

[TheAngryHank]

Didn't Kamenski have the hat trick that game too, and lost.

 

[Flukeshot]

I can just remember my mind being blown watching that game. Pure madness. I wasn't a fan of either team but was still going crazy.

While I did think Claude Lemieux was a puke. I will say I gained an ounce of respect for him when he took his beatings and I don't recall him complaining afterwards. He knew it was coming.

 

[ChuckLefley]

That rivalry was awesome. In a St. Louis boys heart it was second only to the 1980’s Blues-Blackhawks rivalry.

I’m glad to see someone point out that Lemieux didn’t have a chance to fight back after being suckered by McCarty. I also have to mention that if you go back and look at the video of the hit, had Draper not turned towards the boards at the last second the hit would have been totally clean. (For that era). When it comes to any apologies, I was disappointed that Lemieux didn’t apologize but mainly because I always felt Draper (and Maltby) were dirty players who always ran and hid behind tough guys like McCarty.

 

[GordieHowsUrBreath]

why weren't these thugs thrown in jail?

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Funny thing is one of the main things I remember besides the fights obviously is the awesome Kamensky goal right off of a Forsberg faceoff win. Just a great set play that would have been demoralizing for the opposition. Kudos to Detroit on scrapping back and getting the victory though.

Kamensky was such an underrated player. 1996 was his peak year and he was one of the best wingers in the game that year. Had the tools and the toolbox all in one.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Darren McCarty's actions that night were complete gutlessness and cowardly.

Amazing how poorly he did in the re-match when he had to look Lemieux in the face and Lemieux could defend himself and fight back

McCarty beat him both times imo

 

[JJ68]

everything about gen x and the 90\s had an edge to it. Nowadays young peeps like soft music and soft sports.

 

[Plub]

Geezus, I remember watching this game with my dad. 21 years ago? Where the hell does time go?

 

[sandysan]

McCarty beat him both times imo

You win by suckering a guy, you don't get to put a feather in your cap.

Lemieux was a MUCH better player who when asked nodded and went. He might not have won the rematch but when he actually knew he was in a fight he more than held his own with "tough guy" McCarty.

 

[untouchable21]

Will we ever see a intense rivalry like this again in the NHL? Minus all the tough stuff(the tough stuff is not allowed in today’s NHL, there is dirty stuff as well.)

I think if Quebec City gets a NHL team, than games with Montreal will be intense, hard hitting, playing with emotion and fast paced hockey. Montreal and Quebec City are the only ones I can think of.

Calgary and Edmonton in a playoff series would also be intense, hard hitting, fast paced hockey but when one team is doing good the other one sucks. Don’t think they will ever be on even terms(where both teams are good.)

Maybe if Winnipeg and Nashville meet in the playoffs this year. Lots of skill, physicality and healthy dislike for one another.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Too bad we didn't not have the same technology to record stuff for the battles of Alberta

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

What a hell of a first game for Knuble lol

that detroit scouting team of the late 80s and 90s was unfair. you can always tell by the quality of players a team flat out has no room for and flips for picks or just plain gives away.

knuble, traded for a 2nd

dallas drake (1,009 NHL games), traded for backup bob essensa

mike sillinger (1,049 games) and jason york (757 games), traded for stu grimson

tim taylor (746 games), lost on waivers

those are some serious players that they didn't miss at all. not to mention aaron ward, greg johnson, paul ysebaert, anders eriksson, who were all traded for good pieces but still were young players with no future on the team.

 

[MugsyPantherFan]

That rivalry was one of the greatest in modern sports history. What a shame that one died a little when Detroit went to the East. Would love to see some more of that passion in regular season games now a days. Awesome memories... Thanks!

 

[Rodgerwilco]

If you're singling out McCarty here, you're not correct. He was one of Steve Yzerman's most consistent wingers in the Bowman era, and not for protection reasons. He had genuine chemistry with Yzerman and Shanahan.

I'm not singling out McCarty, I'm just talking about the league in general around then.