The Florida Panthers and the Ottawa Senators may not be the big rivalry game that fans expected, but what it offered excited every hockey fan in the world.
The Panthers held a 4-0 lead with 7:22 in the game when a huge fight broke out behind the net. Brady Tkachuk skated into Sergei Bobrovsky, and all hell broke loose.
Every player on the ice was involved in the huge scrum that lasted for a long time. The referees didn’t even bother sorting out who did what and who deserved a 10-minute misconduct or not.
They simply decided to kick everyone out. The referee Garrett Rank quickly went viral when he announced the penalty calls by saying the already legendary quote:
“Every player on the ice has 10-minute misconducts among other penalties.”
The game had no fewer than 167 penalty minutes handed out, and a total of 13 players were ejected from the game.
There were also 12 game misconducts, an unsportsmanlike conduct, three roughing penalties, and two for fighting.
Paul Maurice, the head coach of the Florida Panthers, absolutely loved what he saw from his players, and he also got his fair share of attention when videos of him actually standing on the bench and counting how many players he still had available went viral.
“It was just a hockey game,” said Maurice.
“You can’t play-fight in a game, and both teams want to win. It got a little snarly. That was fun. It was good.”
Paul Maurice’s team was in a comfortable lead and eventually won the game 5-0.
He didn’t seem to be fussed about the penalty minutes. Instead, he hilariously said:
“That’s mild. We only got up to 167 minutes there.” “It has to get into the 250s before it gets too whacky. Sometimes hockey can get like that; that is what makes the game so darned great. It is graceful, beautiful, physical, and angry all at the same time. It was good. Probably good for both teams. It could be the story of the year.”
