Best moments of sportsmanship on the ice

[Big Phil]

Lots of them come to mind for me. The Penguins in 1999 all coming over to congratulate Gretzky on his last NHL game. To a lesser extent the Canucks all doing the same thing to Ryan Smyth in Edmonton. Iginla and the Flames did the same thing to Linden in Vancouver.

Bill Barber and Bobby Orr collide and Barber gets Orr's knee pretty good. I've never been one of those guys who thinks a player intentionally sticks their knee out, I've always felt these things are usually more incidental. Barber hits Orr, knows he was in the wrong and goes over to help him when he's lying on the ice. Start at 1:06:20. As this play is happening Orr is explaining why he got hit and not blaming other guys for hitting him.


Pete Mahovlich does a little tap of respect on the pads of Tretiak after the Henderson goal. Very subtle, didn't look to be like one of those "ha-ha in your face" things, but rather an acknowledgement of a hard fought battle. Clip is at 1:25


In general I always like the handshake at the end of a playoff series. I know Gerry Cheevers never liked it and Billy Smith never did it either, not to mention Milan Lucic and Martin Brodeur/Sean Avery have had some infamous moments in the handshake line, but I thought it was a class act to look a man in the eyes that you have battled for 7 games.

I know this probably never has happened in hockey, to my knowledge, but I always thought something like Crosby for instance doing a ceremonial puck drop say in last year's playoffs with the Capitals would have been pretty cool. I know he may have still gotten booed in Washington but it would have been neat to see sort of one superstar giving a nod to the other one. Tom Brady did the coin flip in Peyton Manning's first Super Bowl just two weeks after that epic comeback Peyton and the Colts had at Brady's expense. Or Terry Bradshaw being the one to present Brady the Super Bowl trophy a couple of years ago (I know he works on Fox anyways, but I always like that better than the commish doing it).

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[Filthy Dangles]

 

[Big Phil]

I am guessing you posted this because it showed that there is respect and honour amongst the guys that drop them? I remember the media going bananas over this. James Duthie, who I have pretty much ignored since then said that he felt the same way when someone told him WWE was fake. I just did an eye roll, I mean, really Duthie? Been in this country long? "Staged" fights had been happening since there was dirt on the ground. Most weren't like that, but they happened. I just assumed any hockey fan worth his salt knew this.

 

[Normand Lacombe]

Gretzky went into the Flyers locker room after the 1987 Final and shook every coach and player's hand. In a short speech, Gretzky praised the Flyers, stating that the series was the toughest the Oilers ever endured and that the Flyers shouldn't hang their heads.

 

[The Panther]

Since we're praising Gretzky's sportsmanship, how about Neil Sheehy's recollection of the '86 Calgary - Edmonton series? Sheehy had been brought up from US college level to the NHL for the sole purpose of playing unsportsmanlike hockey against Gretzky. So after Calgary won, he said he was shocked when he met Gretzky after the series, outside the locker rooms, and Wayne said something like, "Hey Neil, way to go! Hope you guys win the Cup!"

(However, Gretz did get his say when he was told by Edmonton media that the Flames had traded Sheehy a couple years later -- he said something like, "I guess they realized you had to be able to play the game.")

 

[Big Phil]

Gretzky went into the Flyers locker room after the 1987 Final and shook every coach and player's hand. In a short speech, Gretzky praised the Flyers, stating that the series was the toughest the Oilers ever endured and that the Flyers shouldn't hang their heads.

All my years of following hockey I never knew that story. I just have always heard the 1983 story where Kevin Lowe and Gretzky are walking past the Isles locker room expecting them to be whooping it up but instead are nursing their injuries.

 

[brachyrynchos]

Trevor Linden's last game, against the Flames. After the game, Iginla called his teammates back onto the ice to line up and pay their respects to a good player and a guy that looked out for them (Linden's work with NHLPA).

 

[BadgerBruce]

February 10, 1942, it’s the last game for the Bruins’ Kraut Line (Bauer, Dumart and Schmidt) before the trio head off to WWII.

Bruins beat the Habs 8-1 and then players from both teams carry the trio on their shoulders — powerful sign of respect.


'Kraut Line' of Bruins honored before going to war