What would have to occur to have a bench-clearing brawl these days?

[Kcoyote3]

It would have to be something so heinous with so much tension on the game. Maybe some sort of slew foot or knee on McDavid or Matthews or another young star during the Stanley Cup Finals or something? Not sure, what does everyone think it would take to clear out the benches?

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[NyQuil]

Bob Hartley with a coaching job?

 

[DJJones]

Bob Hartley with a coaching job?

That was just a line brawl, not a bench clearing brawl.

 

[FoxyClean]

A captain/goalie getting jumped away from the play?

 

[swiftwin]

Someone straight up assaulting another player, like literally trying to kill them, with their stick while unconscious sort of thing.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Burrows biting somebodies finger.

 

[NyQuil]

That was just a line brawl, not a bench clearing brawl.

He's just getting started.

 

[Diatomic]

A 4th line goon knocking out Matthews cold blooded

 

[WonderTwinsUnite]

McSorley chop to an unsuspecting goalie?

 

[Eternal Leaf]

Sending out a 4th liner to assault Matthews/Mcdavid (i.e. team's star player) would definitely empty the benches.

 

[NyQuil]

Sending out a 4th liner to assault Matthews/Mcdavid (i.e. team's star player) would definitely empty the benches.

Not necessarily.

When Brian Boyle tried to bug Erik Karlsson, Ottawa just sent out Matt Carkner to fill him in later.

 

[Paris in Flames]

Sending out a 4th liner to assault Matthews/Mcdavid (i.e. team's star player) would definitely empty the benches.

Star players have been jumped before though.

It would have to be some real next level **** to really get the players off the bench.

 

[Kcoyote3]

Star players have been jumped before though.

It would have to be some real next level **** to really get the players off the bench.

Exactly. I think it would have to be at the highest tension possible, so probably in the playoffs. Regular season game number 52 won't do it.

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

Ron Hextall reincarnate hacking a superstars leg.

 

[ES]

I say post-period cheap shot in an arena where team(s) don't leave to the locker room behind the bench.

MTL, TOR, NYR, CAR, WPG have few such arenas at least for visiting team.

 

[izzy]

4th line goon attacks goalie

 

[StoneHands]

The only way I could see it happening is if there was a cheapshot and then a line brawl that started right in front of one or both benches where there could be guys from the bench chirping or grabbing guys. Even if a goon ran over a goalie or attacked a star player, I think it would just result in a line brawl, not a bench clearer.

 

[um]

Being a playoff game would just decrease the chances of that happening. Maybe if there was a cheap hit on a 5 on 3 and the brawl got out hand despite uneven numbers, and throw in a goalie getting attacked in the process.

 

[Hospy]

Someone straight up assaulting another player, like literally trying to kill them, with their stick while unconscious sort of thing.

I doubt this would result in a bench clearing brawl since I doubt the guy's teammates are going to fight to protect the guy trying to murder someone.

 

[Fig]

I could maybe see... Chippy playoff series: Star forward runs into star goalie with a heavy impact a few seconds after game or period end.

Goalie team jumps star forward for being a turd, other players on the line reacts to goalie team jumping their star forwards.

But this wouldn't be a bench clearing brawl in the traditional sense.

 

[Blueshirts 94]

Don't guys get suspended for leaving the bench to fight? I find it hard to believe a whole team would do it for anything less than a violent attack on an unsuspecting player (i.e. Bertuzzi-Moore).

 

[Anglesmith]

He's just getting started.

That was also largely Tortorella's fault. Hartley had started the fourth line on multiple occasions on the road that season, and lo and behold the only one that resulted in a line brawl was the one where the other coach threw a fit, put on his own fourth line, yelled across the bench, then had a tough defenceman line up at centre for the faceoff in place of a forward. Funny how things work.

In truth, the cause for that line brawl was Tortorella and Hartley's history. At the time, there was really nothing between the players on the two teams that would have them starting that game with a line brawl. It's funny how the players ended up fighting a coach's battle that had nothing to do with them, really.



Anyway, the closest thing we've had to a bench-clearing brawl in the NHL is probably the Penguins/Islanders thing a few years back. In that case, you had a bad hit in the previous encounter, a bunch of minor-league thugs with zero inhibitions brought up, and cheap shots being taken without any subtlety. And the end result was only one incident of a player leaving the bench (to my memory). So I can't really see it happening under any realistic circumstances.

 

[Weezeric]

If Clarke MacArthur takes a headshot tonight,that might do it...

 

[BigKing]

A DeLorean DMC-12 Time Machine gunned to 88 MPH to trip the flux capacitor.

 

[Seanaconda]

Don't they suspend like the entire team if it happens now. Proof reffing can work