At Super Bowl LVII, there was a tense moment on the Kansas City Chiefs sideline when an upset Travis Kelce — what does that guy have to be upset about? — got a little physical with head coach Andy Reid.
It’s a bit strange to see a coach getting into an altercation like that, but it’s certainly not unheard of, especially in hockey. And it’s a bit funnier, too, because hockey coaches wear suits, and it kind of looks like two businessmen fighting over a taxi.
So, this week I wanted to take a closer look at the best hockey coach altercations of all-time.
5. Marc Crawford vs. scotty bowman
Was there a better rivalry in the 1990s than the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings? It all started in game six of the 1996 Western Conference Final when Claude Lemieux plowed Kris Draper face first into the boards. Yep, that’ll do it.
The bad blood boiled over into the following year’s playoffs when they played each other again in the Western Conference Final. This time the coaches got in each other’s faces during a Game 4 brawl. Stephane Yelle actually had to hold Marc Crawford back from climbing over into the Wings’ bench.
Folklore has it that, while Crawford was chirping at Bowman, Bowman responded “I knew your dad before you did, and I don’t think he’d be too proud of what you’re doing right now.” Ouch!
Eventually the refs climbed onto the bench to prevent the two head honchos and their assistant coaches, Mike Foligno and Mike Krushelnyski, from having a brawl of their own.
A moment of civility before the chaos breaks out once more.
You can sense the tension through the screen as this clip goes on, but at exactly 6:07, things get REALLY wacky.
4. Jim Schonfeld vs. the ref
Back in the 1988 play-offs, the Boston Bruins tuned up the New Jersey Devils real good in game 3 of the Wales Conference Final, 6–1. After the game, the Devils’ coach, Jim Schonfeld got pretty aggressive with Don Koharski, the game’s ref. Koharski stumbled during the festivities. Koharski said that Shonfeld shoved him. Schonfeld said that Koharski stumbled because he was out of shape. That’s when he famously called him a “fat pig” and told him to “have another donut”.
In fairness to Schonfeld, Don Koharski was widely disliked by coaches, players, and fans across the league because he was kinda inconsistent. And, in fairness to Koharski, who doesn’t like a good Boston cream? (FUN FACT: Don Koharski was lampooned in the movie Wayne’s World, where a policeman named Officer Koharski could be found scarfing down some doughy delectables at Wayne and Garth’s donut shop hangout.)
Anyway, the NHL didn’t suspend Schonfeld for the incident, and that ticked off the refs who refused to call game four if Schonfeld was allowed to be on the bench. So, the crowd at the ol’ Bahston Gahden had to wait an hour for the league to bring in replacement officials, who wore bright yellow practice hockey jerseys, instead of the traditional zebra costume.
Hopefully next time the NHL will at least call us up to set them up with something a little nicer.
No donuts for Don.
This video does a great job explaining the shenanigans and tomfoolery that were afoot during this series.
3. torts vs. the calgary flames
The 2013/2014 season was not a good one for the Calgary Flames, and when they arrived in Vancouver in mid-January that season, they were in the middle of an eight-game losing streak. That night, Flames head coach Bob Hartley decided to start his fourth line to reward them for their stick-to-it-iveness during the rough patch.
Well, that did not sit well with one John R. Tortorella — who, if you’re not familiar, is hockey’s answer to Gordon Ramsay. Apparently Torts felt that the move was an obvious plot to jump the Sedin Twins, so he started his fourth line — you know, like how countries amass troops along borders.
It became clear pretty quickly that hockey was not going to be played when the puck dropped. In fact, known non-faceoff-taker Kevin Bieksa ended up taking the opening draw for the Canucks, which just goes to show you how intent both teams were on having a normal hockey shift to start the game.
Gloves hit the ice, fists hit faces, and eight players got ejected before they even played one second of hockey. But, then, during the first intermission, Torts paid a visit to the Flames locker room, and tried to barge in and fight Coach Hartley for starting his goons. That led to an incredible confrontation in the hallway outside the Calgary room. Thankfully, Hockey Night in Canada’s hallway camera caught the donnybrook.
Flames winger, Brian McGrattan, who was a part of the scrum, gives a pretty good breakdown of the moments that led up to the confrontation here.
The precursor to the hallway incident- clearly, these teams were NOT too fond of each other.
2. Ric Seiling vs. bryan wells
The NHL is the highest level of professional hockey, and for that reason, professionalism usually prevails over tempers, and coach confrontations rarely ever result in actual punches thrown.
For that you gotta go down a couple levels to the Central Hockey League.
Back in November of ‘97, the Tulsa Oilers and the Wichita Thunder had themselves a 10–6 barn-burner that ended in a post-game brawl. But, just as things seemed to be calming down, Thunder coach, Bryan Wells met Oilers coach Ric Seiling on the ice, and started throwing hay-makers.
Wells was suspended for 12 games.
What. A. Tilt!
1. andre niec vs. jerome bechard
Who?
Glad you asked. Andre Niec (pronounced “Nitch”) is a scout for the Florida Panthers, but back in 2020 he was the head coach of the Carolina Thunderbirds of the Federal Prospects Hockey League. Jerome Bechard was — and still is — the head coach of the Columbus River Dragons, also of the FPHL.
When the two teams met in March of 2020, things got a little bit wild. Following some in-game rough stuff, Niec and Bechard exchanged some words, and eventually both stepped on to the ice, but Instead of dropping their gloves, they dropped their suit jackets.
But, before the coaches could square off, one of the River Dragons players dropped his gloves and challenged Coach Niec to a game of punch, and that’s when all Heck broke loose. Players fought players, goalies fought goalies, and the coaches got in the middle of it all. At one point, Niec even lost his dress shirt — I guess he didn’t have the fighting strap tied down.
Have you ever seen two coaches literally squaring up to fight? Now you have.
“I was at a fight and a hockey game broke out!”
Do my rankings stack up?
There have been a lot of hot-headed coaches in the 100-plus year history of hockey. Lindy Ruff and the late great Pat Burns both come to mind. But, these are the most legendary dust-ups that the brutiful game has to offer. It actually makes me respect the restraint these guys show on a daily basis.
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Pierre McGuire observing a little scuffle between Peter Laviolette and Dan Bylsma.
