NHL playoffs: 5 series that turned ugly
Habs-Senators 1st-round matchup this week has already produced controversy
The opening-round playoff series between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators is only one game old, but controversy has already surfaced.
Habs defenceman P.K. Subban's slash to the wrist of Ottawa rookie Mark Stone on Wednesday night has polarized hockey fans, with some calling for a suspension of Subban — which didn't happen — and/or retaliation. Others say Subban's time served after his ejection from Game 1, which the Habs won, should suffice.
Meanwhile, Ottawa coach Dave Cameron alluded to potential reprisals in Game 2 on Friday night.
As history has shown, things can get ugly quickly in the playoffs.
Here are fives series where the violence escalated.
The Good Friday Massacre
The Battle of Quebec exploded during the 1984 playoffs. Within the first 30 seconds of Game 6, the Canadiens and Quebec Nordiques were at each other's throats — literally.
Tempers flared so much that another fight broke out in the third period while the referees were still sorting out the penalties.
War in the West
The Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche have a history of hatred. The teams were once heated Western Conference rivals, and their matchups (regular season and playoffs) were always competitive and combative, to say the least.
The hit that started the real enmity took place in Game 6 of the 1996 Western final when Colorado's Claude Lemieux blindsided Kris Draper.
From then on, Wings-Avs games became as much about who won the fights as who won on the scoresheet.
Also, what's with these Game 6 brawls? Shouldn't they focus on winning the series?
Borje gets beaten
The Philadelphia Flyers of the 1970s lived up to their nickname as the Broad Street Bullies.
During their run to a third consecutive Stanley Cup final in 1976, the Flyers drew the Toronto Maple Leafs, who they swept the previous year.
This time around, the Leafs put up more of a fight, but Philly's Mel Bridgeman made a lasting impression on the face of Leafs defenceman Borje Salming.
Pennsylvanian pugilism
Today's generation of Flyers embrace the physical side of the game too, especially against intrastate rival Pittsburgh.
Their tilt in the 2012 post-season saw the teams' top two stars drop the gloves.
That fight showed that Sidney Crosby is hardly a wallflower, and counterpart Claude Giroux can talk a lot for someone who can't take a punch.
Déjà vu all over again
That's right, brawls are a familiar concept in the history of Montreal versus Ottawa.
Senators defenceman Eric Gryba's vicious hit on Lars Eller in 2013 was the catalyst for one of the roughest series of the past few years.
Things reached Slap Shot levels of insanity in Game 3. On the night of Jean-Gabriel Pageau's hat trick, the spotlight was stolen by a combined 210 penalty minutes in the third period alone, highlighted by this line brawl:
With another controversial hit already in the books, 2015 could be a repeat of 2013 between these two rivals.