10 years ago today, March 26th, 1997, 301 days of anger and pain were sorted out at Joe Louis Arena, and revenge was served in full.
It's really difficult to put into words what happened that night unless you were an Av fan or a Red Wings fan. Even so though, NHL fans around the league acknowledge it as one of the the defining hockey moments of the 1990's, and even the modern hockey era as a whole. This wasn't simple goonery, or silliness... it was what happened when a player gets away with hurting another player and receives no punishment from a league that didn't respect the team or the game.
This is why little, mild-mannered Igor Larionov snapped after being manhandled by Forsberg and responded by bloodying up Forsberg's face in a fisfight, and why it triggered such an emotional response from the players who then fought, and the fans watching in the stands and at home.
Earlier this year on Feb. 22nd, a Sabres-Senators game erupted in a similar fashion after Chris Neil of the Senators gave Chris Drury a cheapshot in open ice. In some ways it is dissimilar to the Wings-Avs brawl because the Wings waited for the league to come down on Claude Lemieux and they never did. In this case, the Sabres didn't even wait and took matters into their own hands in the moments afterwards. However, I can completely understand why -- you don't elbow someone like that at full-speed, in open ice, and expect there to not be retribution. You unfortunately can't rely upon the league still today to mete out worthy punishment for needlessly-violent acts.
However the Sabres-Sens brawl can't really match the pent-up frustration, pain, and anger that comes after waiting 301 days for your chance. And that's why 10 years ago today is a seminal point in not just Detroit hockey lore, but really in NHL history. If you don't get it,. that's ok. Plenty of us do, and
plenty of us remember watching, and still feel it was the turning point for the Red Wings franchise not just that year, but ever since.
Has it REALLY been 10 years? It feels like just yesterday...
-- Primis.