Oh, the good ole days...

I was bored at work the other day, surfing around online when I came across this article by Dave Seminara. It was regarding the 30th anniversary of the Bruins/Ranger fans brawl in 1979. You know, the one where the entire Boston Bruins team jumped into the stands to kick some Ranger fan ass, while the announcer lets us know that "this could be bad." From what I understand, it had the potential to be a really sticky situation, but I don't think it ever made it to that point, since the announcer never told me it had offically become "bad." Oh, the good ole days...when an entire team can jump over the glass and beat down the fans, and three players get suspended for it... Anyway, I'll sum it up for you.

Al Secord decides to nail Ulf Nilsson because "I remembered the sucker punch he gave me earlier in the game, so I thought, an eye for an eye, and I suckered him." Oh, the good ole days...when Secord's 170 PIM are third high on his team, and not enough to crack the top 10 that year(his teammate Stan Jonathan's 208 PIM were also not good enough for the "top 10" although he likely would have been 10th if "bench" were taken off the list).

As a fight breaks out by the stands, a fan decides it's a good idea to hit Stan Jonathan with a program, busting his face open. Oh, the good ole days...when programs were made out of brass plates...

Fellow Bruin/hero Terry O'Reilly was the first to stand up for his poor vulnerable teammate, followed by Peter McNab. Wait...Peter McNab? That doesn't sound right. He's the kind of guy who Sven probably loved. What's a guy like that doing going into the stands?

Peter McNab, who had only four penalty minutes the previous season, shed his inhibitions and followed his linemate into the stands.

“Peter was usually the guy who’d pick up our gloves for us after a fight,” Jonathan said.

Oh, the good ole days...when players picked up their teammate's equipment when they were done fighting. You don't see Kyle Wellwood doing that.

Hey, I have an idea! Let's hear what everybody's favorite man Don Cherry has to say about this!

Don Cherry, who had coached the Bruins the season before and watched the game on television, said he was pleased to see McNab acting out of character. “I was quite proud of him,” he said.

Good call, Don! There was obviously a war going on out there. We wouldn't want McNab out there doing anything stupid, like say, trying to score a goal or something. Oh, the good ole days...when Don Cherry was an ignorant asshole! Glad to see things have changed. Living in the world of hockey the past thirty years has really paid off for him. You can tell he's worked hard to improve his opinion about the game of hockey. Somebody should nominate him for top ten greatest Canadians!

Anyway, the rest of the article talks about how Mike Milbury went from "happy and content, and ready to go home for Christmas, to full combat mode in about 20 seconds," and how Gary Cheevers, the only Bruins player who didn't attack the fans, defended his decision to be such a pussy. "I was already on my second beer."

Good times. It's really a shame the NHL has stooped to this level of play, where actual talent has taken over the league.