Thanks to Twitter follower Saltydawg for this. Today was Hockey Day In Canada. During the madness that ensued between the Maple Leafs and Canadiens, Hockey Night In Canada supplied us with a little comic relief. A Russian referee stood up to a penalized player who shoved him down. One of the coolest videos ever.

As soon as the Leafs/Habs mess comes out, we’ll link it up. Toronto lit up Montreal for six in a dominant 6-0 win. Not surprisingly, the game took a nasty turn. There were plenty of fisticuffs. Old buddy Brandon Prust was involved in a scrap with Mark Fraser and also a spearing incident. There were four. The teams combined for 116 penalty minutes. Montreal racked up 65 PIM to Toronto’s 51 in this classic Original Six brawl.

There was some snarl during the second when the bitter rivals combined for 18 penalty minutes, including some mutual roughs and incense following a call on rookie Brendan Gallagher for diving. Rene Bourque and Mike Kostka were involved late in the period. It escalated from there.

Frustrated by James Reimer who stopped all 37 for a shutout, it was only a matter of time before the Canadiens took out their frustration against the Leafs. Prust and Fraser had an entertaining bout that lasted over a minute with the ex-Devil earning the decision.

Following another Leaf goal, Kostka and Gallagher got into it. Leaf captain Dion Phaneuf added insult to injury with a power play goal to make it a touchdown. The game spiraled out of control when Max Pacioretty speared Mikhail Grabovski. Rumors are circulating that Grabovski bit Pacioretty. Prust rushed to his teammate’s defense, creating more chaos.

With a few minutes left, Randy Carlyle sent out Colton Orr, who proceeded to knock down Bourque with one heavy right. Orr also speared took a swing at Tomas Plekanec. Luckily, the Habs’ top scorer was okay.
The insanity continued with rugged Habs’ defenseman Josh Gorges wanting to go with Frazer McLaren. The refs wisely broke it up. Gorges would’ve pulverized him. With the game not over, Bourque was sent off for a spear- leading to an eruption. Once he was off the ice, he chucked his stick.

In case you’re wondering, the rematch is on Wednesday 2/27 at Air Canada Centre. Get yer popcorn ready.