Ice Hockey: 10 players at the cones and 2 seconds of play, with score pending

Two seconds. That was the time that passed between the puck hitting the ice and the pine cones starting to fly in the classic in between New York Rangers AND New Jersey Devilsneighbors in the Big Apple and bitter rivals in the NHL, the league of ice Hockey from the United States and Canada.

While this alternative of seeing two players clash in the middle of a match is common and supported by the rules, the most surprising thing about the night in Madison Square Garden was that this happened almost automatically or premeditated, and that it involved all the players on the pitch (the goalkeepers were eyewitnesses) in a five-on-five bare-fisted dispute that lasted several minutes.

The main fight of the evening, which wasn’t boxing but looked like it, was hosted by the Rangers striker, Matt Rempfacing Kurtis McDermid, from New Jersey. As local media later explained, both athletes had an outstanding score to settle.

On March 11, the Devils faced the Rangers at the same venue and Rempe rejected MacDermid’s offer to fight early in the match. The Canadian wanted to make his compatriot pay for hitting a teammate in the previous match, last February 22nd, when he knocked out and broke Nathan Bastian’s rib.

Rempe would not fight MacDermid that night, and then again took a Devils player off the field with a high elbow that earned him a four-game suspension.

On Wednesday night, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette put Rempe back in the starting lineup, resulting in total disaster on the ice in New York. As soon as the puck hit the ice, gloves fell off and fists flew.

MacDermid finally had the urge to hit Rempe with a couple of pine cones, like the rest of the players who didn’t want to leave their teammates alone, in an attitude celebrated by sports fans born in the northernmost part of the continent. .

When the chaos finally ended, both Rempe and MacDermid were ejected, along with the Rangers’ Barclay Woodrow, Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller, and the Devils’ Kevin Bahl, Chris Tierney and John Marino. The ten players also received five minutes of penalties for fighting.

“It was amazing to see the team respond like that and support each other,” said MacDermid, who said the fights happened “spontaneously.” And he added, regarding Rempe: “I have a lot of respect for him, he’s a young boy who tries to do his own things.”

“There were a lot of things going on at once, five meetings to start the game, nobody expected that,” Devils interim coach Travis Green said.

Green also yelled at Rangers coach Peter Laviolette from the sideline in the middle of the fight. “I have no idea why Peter was angry,” Green apologized. “Their players were preparing meetings before the match, we all know why it happened tonight, something happened in the previous match,” he added.

“It was mostly emotion,” Laviolette said of his outburst. “I think the guys fought hard for each other.” Her team ended up winning the match 4-3, with a goal at the end that was celebrated as a title.