Grab the 40 Pounder
Sept 03, 2004
Fotiu: "It was one wild brawl, one of the
wildest". (Listen
to the Call)
April
11, 1975 Game two, first round of the Avco Cup playoffs,
WHA Minnesota
Fighting Saints/New England Whalers.
Hockey went through quite a period during the raucous 1970's thanks in large part to the success of the Philadelphia Flyers and their 'Broad Street Bully' approach to the game. Although much of how the game evolved at that time can be laid at their skates, the Flyers were really only picking up where 'The Big Bad Bruins' had left off in the 1969-1973 time period. Rules to curb instigators in fights and punish those who left the bench to fight were first instituted in 1976 and 1977 but by then there had been numerous melee's, spectacular brawls really, in so much as the number of participants would include most of the players on both teams, the length of time it took to end one of the battles and the fact that for the most part the teams would return to some semblance of hockey so soon after such a major explosion.
During my last regular sojourn on Sports Talk Radio here in Ottawa, I had a regular clip that I played each and every Saturday called, "grab the 40 pounder and hide the woman and children." It was far and away the most popular part of my two hour show if the email I received at home was any indication. Basically I aired an audio clip of the play-by-play or blow-by-blow if you will, of a bench clearing brawl or big fight from the 1970's. I always told the listener's who was participating and why the brawl started because in those days you simply did not under any circumstances run a star player or take a cheap shot or liberties with another man without paying for it, usually immediately. Unlike the gutless, cowardly approach in today's game where hitting from behind and cheap shots are incorporated into part of the game and many of the regular perpetrators escape their due punishment because of the instigator rule and the inability of some coaches to properly assess what standing up for each other is all about and how important it is to get that message across to each and every player on your roster.
I'll admit, it's a part of the game that I've always enjoyed, a good scrap that is. Although I was a young man in my teens when the bench clearer was a regular part of the pro hockey landscape I certainly can look back now and see the danger that was sometimes evident from the mass brawling. However, to quote Glen Somnor, who was managing the Minnesota Fighting Saints at the time of this particular brawl and who would later coach in the NHL, in a conversation with Fighting Saint coach Harry Neale, Somnor said, "Harry we'll have to stop this fighting or we'll have to build a bigger rink." No question, it was and still is a very popular element of pro hockey.
This was the playoffs such as they were in the World Hockey Association in 1975. Jack Kelley was coaching New England after replacing Ron Ryan very late in the season. Harry Neale was the bench boss for Minnesota and he entered this playoff series minus one pugilist, Gord Gallant. Only days earlier, just prior to the series beginning, Gallant and Neale fought after Gallant was late for a curfew and was fined one hundred dollars. Neale had no choice but to suspend him. (for more on this situation and comments on Harry Neale check out my latest Lament.)
The brawl starts with Bill Butters of the Fighting Saints hammering Larry Pleau of the Whalers.
Coach Neale: " It was early in the second period (1:10) and we had nothing going. I put out the BBC Line, (Bill Butters, Curt Brackebury and Jack Carlson) and they, well, they got something going. Butters was regularly a defenseman but on occasion I used him up front. It took Larry Pleau about two years to forgive me but he finally did."
(post script-St. Louis GM, Larry Pleau, returned my call last week and we chatted about this fight for a moment. I asked him if he was scared at all given how out of control this particular brawl sounds. Pleau-" No, not really. You don't have the time. Butters gave it to me pretty good to start it and then it's pretty much everyman for himself. Plus you have to remember, I played in the EHL in 1969. These names aren't common place to the fan today but the Joe Robertson's, John Brophy, Blake Ball, Hal Willis, Bob Shupe, these guys would cut your heart out. You learned to play, play hard, keep your head up and take care of yourself. It was no different in the WHA." )
There were few players as tough or as good with the dukes in the 1970's than Nick Fotiu. A contender for the New York State Golden Glove Award, Fotiu was a tremendous team player and at this particular time, maybe the only true heavyweight New England had.
Nick Fotiu: "It was one wild brawl, one of the wildest I had been in or would be in no question about it. One thing though that scared me more than anything else. If I could have, during that second fight with Jack Carlson, I would have killed him. I was that mad. We had gone through the door at the Minnesota players bench and I was fighting him in there and I wanted to kill him, seriously."
I got these comments from Nick Fotiu during an interview on internet radio in August of 2001. I talked to Harry Neale on August 29, 2002 and he very graciously has allowed me to post his quote on how the brawl started. If you're wondering why the delay in posting this to the site, I misplaced the tape and only recently discovered it after a flood in our house. Fortunately it was not damaged and thanks to Russ Brooks from Imatics for posting it to the site. The voices you hear calling all the action are in this wild brawl are Bob Neumeier on the play-by-play and we think the colour commentator is Bill Rassmusen.
Other stats on the fight are as follows; There was a 32 minute delay in sorting things out. The brawl featured 189 minutes in penalties. New England won the game 3-2 in overtime on a goal by Rick Ley evening the series at a game a piece but according to Harry Neale,
"our players were ecstatic after the game figuring they had intimidated the Whalers and we ended up winning the series in six games so I guess they were right. I'll give Fotiu credit. He was by far their toughest guy and he fought everybody."
Some of the other combatants you'll hear on the tape include the goalies, Al Smith of the Whalers and John Garrett from the Saints. Garrett has been seen for the last few years as a member of the Sportsnet hockey broadcast team. Harry Neale has had a long association with Hockey Night in Canada. Larry Pleau is the GM of the St. Louis Blues and he played over 500 games of big league hockey including a hundred or so in the NHL that featured a stint with the Montreal Canadiens in 1971 the year they won the Cup. Jack Carlson is a brother to Steve and Jeff Carlson who starred in the movie "Slapshot." A number of the players on both sides are now members of the Ottawa Senator Alumni Association. Rick Smith, Fred O'Donnell, Bob Charlebois, I see these guys about eight or ten times a year at various functions around the Ottawa area.
Enjoy the call of the fight folks. It's as good as I've heard and I have many, many like it. From a historical perspective, that same night, April 11, 1975, the New York Islanders were eliminating the New York Rangers in the post season on an overtime goal by J.P. Parise at the eleven second mark of O.T. The fastest ever overtime goal at that point. It would stand for eleven years until Brian Skrudland broke it in 1986 with his goal coming at the nine second mark for the Montreal Canadiens against the Calgary Flames. Denis Potvin scored his first two career playoff goals in this game. The Islanders blew a 3-0 lead before winning it in O.T. Also that same night the Chicago Black Hawks upset the Boston Bruins two games to one in their first round action. 6-4 was the final score in this game with Boston outshooting Chicago 56-19. Tony Esposito was simply amazing in the pipes.
And finally, although Minnesota won this series, they were eliminated in the next round by Quebec who in turn were swept by the Houston Aeros for the 1975 Avco Cup. Thanks again to Harry Neale, Larry Pleau and Nick Fotiu for their comments. Feel free to email any and all thoughts you have on this or any other hockey issues.
Liam Maguire
