Rangers-Canucks Third Period Meltdown

During Wednesday's edition of Newsmakers, I made a brief mention of the insanity that unfolded in the third period of Tuesday's Rangers-Canucks game, and the video is perhaps even better than I could have ever imagined.

Just over four minutes into the period, with the Canucks leading 1-0, 17 players found their way onto the ice (10 Rangers, seven Canucks) and exchanged pleasantries at center ice. Once order appeared to be restored for a few seconds, Sean Avery had words with the Canucks bench, and before you knew it, he was stealing Shane O'Brien's stick (after O'Brien tried to spear him with it) and throwing it on the ice.

Video of the mayhem after the jump.



When all was said and done, Dane Byers, Kevin Bieska, Alex Burrows, Daniel Girardi and O'Brien were all issued 10-minute misconducts, while Ryan Kesler picked up a two-minute minor for roughing.

The pugilism didn't end there, of course, as Byers and Vancouver's Tanner Glass decided to throw down in the final two minutes after the Canucks had taken control with a 4-1 lead.



Byers picked up another 10-minute misconduct, as well as an instigator penalty, and finished the game with 29 penalty minutes. He only played 4:47.

I think the important thing to keep in mind, as the announcer points out, is this would have been a far worse situation 20 or 30 years ago when bench clearing brawls were quite common, and far more violent.