DETROIT SUCKS!

Actually, tonight's fight comes from the 1986-87 season, when the entire Norris Division sucked.  That year, the Blues finished first with a record of 32-33-15.  That's right, the entire division finished under .500.  Those were the days when record didn't matter much in the Norris.  Teams knew they were going to have to show up and be prepared for an all out brawl at any time. 

The '86-87 Hawks are notable in one regard, in that they produced a lot of guys who went on to work in hockey front offices and broadcast booths.  The team included two current Hawks broadcasters in Eddie Olczyk (who also did a stint as head coach of the Penguins) and Troy Murray, current Hawk scout Marc Bergevin, Darryl Sutter who's coached in 3 seperate organizations and is currently GM of the Calgary Flames and a defensive pairing of Doug Wilson and Bob Murray, who are currently the GMs of the Sharks and Ducks respectively (by the way, there is no truth to the rumor that after this game, Wilson and Murray went over to Dale Tallon's house and got him to trade its entire contents for the rights to Mike Stapleton).

Anyway, the Hawks score a goal in this highlight, which I think proves that Bob Murray is the REAL inventor of the knuckle-puck and since both teams are in the Norris Division, a massive fight breaks out.  I believe the issue was that the Red Wings were angry that the Hawks would be so unsporting as to shoot on an empty net, while the Hawks were upset that the Red Wings hadn't shown adequate reverence for Bob Murray after he scored his sixth goal of the season.  Then Al Secord spits on Bob Probert's monocle, Basil McCrae insults Doug Wilson's perm and the next thing you know, somebody is beating the hell out of Ed Olczyk and Gary Nylund is unconscious on the ice.

Good times.