This weeks Friday Night Fights will go in a different direction. There has been some history between the Boston Bruins and the Dallas Stars. The feud stared back when the Stars were know as the Minnesota Northstars. Today will be a little history lesson in an unorthodox rivalry with three memorial brawls between the teams.
Earlier in the 1980-81 season the Bruins roughed up the Northstars pretty badly so the next time the teams met Minnesota was looking for a little revenge. The Northstars had never won in Boston at the time and wanted to prove to the Bruins that they no longer wanted to be pushed around. This brawl included Boston legends Ray Bourque, Terry O'Reilly amongst others including the late Brad McCrimmon. For the Northstars Jack Carlson who was famous for being one of the stories behind the Hanson Brothers in Slapshot had a nice scrap with O'Rielly.
Boston Bruins vs Minnesota North Stars - Bench Brawl - Literally on the bench (via hockeyfightguy)
The Stars were in town and what seemed to be a normal game soon turned chaotic. Center Steve Ott of the Stars decided that he was going to give cheap shot after cheap shot during the game. He first goes low on Stephan Yelle and take him out at the knees with an absolute garbage check. Shawn Thornton isn't impressed so he grabs Ott and start throwing punches, but Ott won't fight back. Later on the puck is thrown behind the Bruins net where an icing was called off. Mark Stuart touches the puck thinking there will be an icing called but there is not so Ott takes a run at Stuart and leaves his feet hitting Stuart into the boards. Shany Hnidy, like Thornton earlier is not impressed. Hindy grabs Ott and drops his gloves, but once again Ott won't fight. Later on in the third period, Andrew Ferance saw an opportunity to get some revenge when he destroyed Ott with an open ice check. Right after the hit everyone's best friend Steve Avery challenged Ference and the two fight. About half way through the third period the refs finally had enough of Ott's antics and gave him a game misconduct for his actions. This leads to Avery boarding Milan Lucic with another cheap shot. The dirty hit on Lucic is why all hell breaks through. Marc Savard jumps on Avery and starts to pound him for his garbage play and then the full line scrum begins. One of the most memorable moments of this brawl is where Shane Hnidy is just completely unloading on Matt Niskanen face. Hnidy lands about ten punches to Niskanen's one. This series of events play a key role in what happened in the next time the teams face off in Boston.
Bruins-Stars line brawl and more 11/1/08 (via dafoomie)
The last time the two teams faced off, hockey fans were in for a treat. There wasn't any bench clearing brawls or full line brawls, but something just as good. One second into the game old friend Steve Ott faced off with Gregory Campbell. There weren't a lot of punches throw but Ott did land one good enough to split Campbell open. It was more of awrestling match with Ott taking the victory. As soon as the puck dropped again Shawn Thornton and Krys Barch went at it just like they did the last time the two teams met in Boston. Thornton clearly won this fight landing numerous punches while Barch landed one. It looked like finally the game would start unlit, Adam McQuaid and Brian Sutherby made it a trifecta. McQuaid got the the TKO in this match only four seconds into the game. The record went to Boston with the 2-1 victors in the three fights. Later on in the game Shawn Thornton made a bid for his first career hat trick but fell short after ringing the iron with under a minute left in the game.
Boston Bruins vs. Dallas Stars - 3 Fights in 4 Seconds - February 3rd, 2011 (via FFMHockeyFan1)
There is some kind of hatred between the two teams when they face off in Boston. It never seems to happen when they play in Dallas, but there is blood to be shed when the game is on Causeway Street. The two teams meet again in Dallas on New Years Eve this upcoming season, but the games in Dallas seem to be timid. Maybe it is time for the fans in Texas to see some heads rolling so we don't have to wait next season to see Boston vs. Dallas round four at the garden.