One of the highlights of Glen Sonmor's coaching career (or lowlights if you're a hater of hockey fights) was the record-setting brawl from the North Stars game at Boston on Feb. 26, 1981.
In reality, it was a game filled with fights, the first of which came seven seconds into the game with Bobby Smith of the North Stars (who rarely dropped his gloves) and Steve Kasper of the Bruins went at it right after the opening face-off.
By the end of the night, 12 players had been ejected and 392 minutes of penalties assessed.
"You can't go out there and take it all the time," Sonmor said after the game. "The league says they'll stop these cheap shots, but they never do it. The Bruins brag about it. They found out tonight we wouldn't take it."
Here's what the night of fights looked like:
Here's what the box score looked like, courtesy (of course) of hockeyfights.com.:
Minnesota 1 , Boston 5
Boston Garden
February 26, 1981
Goals:
P1-09:56 SH 1-0 O'Connell (Middleton)
P1-15:31 PP 2-0 Ratelle (O'Connell,Bourque)
P2-26:31 RP 2-1 Polich (Maxwell,Ciccarelli)
P2-29:13 PP 3-1 Bourque (Park)
P3-45:15 SH 4-1 Middleton
P3-46:17 SH 5-1 Middleton (Ratelle)
Penalties:
00:07 02 min highsticking BOS Kasper
00:07 05 min fighting BOS Kasper
00:07 02 min unsportmanlike BOS Crowder
00:07 05 min fighting BOS Crowder
00:07 10 min misconduct BOS Crowder
00:07 02 min highsticking MIN B.Smith
00:07 05 min fighting MIN B.Smith
00:07 02 min unsportmanlike MIN Payne
00:07 02 min unsportmanlike MIN Payne
00:07 05 min fighting MIN Payne
00:07 10 min misconduct MIN Payne
00:07 10 min misconduct MIN Payne
02:53 02 min highsticking BOS Milbury
02:53 02 min highsticking MIN Christoff
03:35 02 min slashing BOS O'Reilly
03:35 05 min fighting BOS O'Reilly
03:35 05 min fighting MIN Carlson
04:28 02 min hooking BOS McCrimmon
05:43 02 min interference MIN Hartsburg
06:02 02 min hooking MIN G.Smith
08:06 02 min BOS BENCH
08:06 05 min fighting BOS Milbury
08:06 05 min fighting BOS Gillis
08:06 10 min misconduct BOS Gillis
08:06 02 min MIN BENCH
08:06 05 min fighting MIN Younghans
08:06 05 min fighting MIN Hartsburg
08:06 10 min misconduct MIN Hartsburg
08:58 02 min highsticking BOS Bourque
08:58 05 min fighting BOS Bourque
08:58 05 min fighting BOS McCrimmon
08:58 05 min fighting BOS McCrimmon
08:58 10 min misconduct BOS McCrimmon
08:58 10 min game misconduct BOS McCrimmon
08:58 02 min roughing BOS McNab
08:58 10 min game misconduct BOS McNab
08:58 02 min roughing BOS O'Reilly
08:58 10 min game misconduct BOS O'Reilly
08:58 02 min roughing BOS Milbury
08:58 10 min game misconduct BOS Milbury
08:58 02 min roughing BOS Crowder
08:58 02 min roughing BOS Crowder
08:58 02 min roughing BOS Crowder
08:58 10 min game misconduct BOS Crowder
08:58 02 min leaving crease BOS Vachon
08:58 02 min roughing MIN MacAdam
08:58 05 min fighting MIN MacAdam
08:58 10 min misconduct MIN MacAdam
08:58 10 min game misconduct MIN MacAdam
08:58 05 min fighting MIN G.Smith
08:58 10 min game misconduct MIN G.Smith
08:58 05 min fighting MIN Roberts
08:58 10 min game misconduct MIN Roberts
08:58 02 min roughing MIN Carlson
08:58 10 min game misconduct MIN Carlson
08:58 02 min roughing MIN Younghans
08:58 10 min game misconduct MIN Younghans
08:58 10 min game misconduct MIN Hartsburg
08:58 10 min game misconduct MIN Payne
08:58 02 min MIN BENCH
08:58 02 min leaving crease MIN Meloche
12:44 02 min interference MIN Maxwell
14:02 02 min slashing MIN Zanussi
17:36 02 min hooking BOS Kasper
29:00 05 min fighting BOS Cashman
29:00 02 min highsticking MIN Maxwell
29:00 05 min fighting MIN Maxwell
29:00 02 min MIN BENCH
32:21 02 min cross-checking BOS Redmond
37:13 05 min fighting BOS Middleton
37:13 05 min fighting MIN Zanussi
39:42 05 min fighting BOS Kasper
39:42 05 min fighting MIN Shmyr
41:35 02 min roughing BOS Lalonde
41:35 05 min fighting BOS Foster
41:35 02 min roughing MIN Christoff
41:35 05 min fighting MIN Christoff
44:48 02 min hooking BOS O'Connell
49:32 02 min tripping BOS Marcotte
58:52 05 min fighting BOS Lalonde
58:52 05 min fighting MIN Christoff
Saves:
BOS Vachon 21
MIN Meloche 22
And here's our favorite postgame quote, from Bruins coach Gerry Cheevers: "When somebody like Bobby Smith starts fighting at seven seconds you know something is going on. But fighting is part of hockey. The security guards did a heck of a job. I don't see anything violent about tonight. There were no sticks involved. This is part of hockey. This is how you should play the game."
