The New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings have never met in the Stanley Cup Final before, but they have met in the playoffs before and it got a bit heated.
Back in the 1981 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the two teams met in the preliminary Best of 5 round eventually won by the Rangers. That series didn’t go quietly as the two teams had a legendary brawl during the Kings’ only win in the series in Game 2.
As the New York Times shared, over 200 penalty minutes were handed out after a bench-clearing brawl to end the first period. It was sparked by Rangers captain Barry Beck sucker-punching Kings defenseman Rick Chartraw. Chartraw was being held back by an official when Beck threw a left hook over the referee’s shoulder.
Highlights of the melee include:
- Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne throwing punches with Ed Hospodar.
- Ron Duguay’s sweet hair.
- Nick Fotiu winding up in the crowd throwing punches.
- Future NHL GMs Don Maloney and Jim Rutherford being involved.
- Hospodar punching Kings goalie Mario Lessard to spark things all over again.
- The commentary is priceless including comments saying the fight is a “disgrace” and it would “set the game back 10 years.”
Sit back and enjoy the wonder of early 80s hockey: