Flyers–Senators brawl

The Flyers–Senators brawl was a line brawl that occurred during a National Hockey League game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Ottawa Senators on March 5, 2004. The two team's combined penalty minutes, 419, were the most in a single game in the history of the league. The game was played at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., which is the home arena of the Flyers.
The line brawl was initiated by Philadelphia left-winger "enforcer" Donald Brashear and Ottawa's right winger Rob Ray with approximately 1:45 left in the third period, the Flyers leading the game 5 to 2. Once the fight between the two players ended and they began to skate to the penalty box, the rest of the players on the ice for each team, including goaltenders Robert Esche and Patrick Lalime began to fight.
At the next faceoff, Philadelphia's center Michal Handzus and Mike Fisher, the center for Ottawa, immediately began to fight. Approximately 30 seconds after that fight, another fight broke out involving all of the players on the ice, with the exception of the two goaltenders. Finally, a fight broke out between Patrick Sharp of Philadelphia and Jason Spezza of Ottawa. The game ended with a final score of 5–3, the Flyers winning.
By the end of the game, 20 players had been ejected for their role in the brawl, leaving a combined total of five players on the team benches. The officials of the game took about 90 minutes to sort out all of the penalties that each team had received. In the end, the Flyers had 213 team penalty minutes and the Senators received 206, combining for the record total of 419.
Continuing the fighting from the game, Flyers General Manager Bob Clarke had to be restrained from going after Ottawa coach Jacques Martin after the game, taking issue with his handling of his team.
== Previous incidents ==
The brawl was likely to have been initiated because of a previous incident between the teams. About a week before the brawl, the Flyers were in Ottawa for a game against the Senators. During the third period, Flyers winger Mark Recchi was following Martin Havlat of the Senators when he crossed into the Philadelphia defensive zone. As this happened, Recchi hooked Havlat, causing both of the players to collide and fall into the boards. When Havlat got up from the ice, angered by Recchi's hook, he took his stick above him and slashed Recchi, hitting him in the face.
Havlat was given a five-minute major penalty for attempting to injure Recchi, along with a game misconduct penalty. He was later given a two-game suspension by the NHL due to the incident. He was also forced to give up US$36,585.36 of his salary as he was already suspended previously for kicking Eric Cairns of the New York Islanders during a game earlier in the season.
Revenge was also mentioned after the game by Ken Hitchcock, then the head coach for the Flyers. During a post game interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, making the comment "Someday, someone's going to make him eat his lunch. This is something, in my opinion, that the players should take care of." Mark Recchi also mentioned revenge, not specifically from the Flyers, during an interview with the CBC. "It doesn't surprise me coming from this guy. He's that type of player. He's done it before. It might not come from our team. But he better protect himself," said Recchi.
==Penalty summary==
Penalty summary	Penalty summary	Penalty summary 	Penalty summary 	Penalty summary	Penalty summary
Period 	Team 	Player 	Penalty 	Time 	PIM
1st 	PHI 	Tony Amonte 	Holding – Obstruction	05:17 	2:00
2nd 	OTT 	Mike Fisher 	Tripping 	03:57 	2:00
2nd 	OTT 	Todd Simpson 	Holding 	06:06 	2:00
2nd 	PHI 	Radovan Somik 	Slashing 	13:08 	2:00
2nd 	OTT 	Mike Fisher 	Hi-sticking 	17:07 	2:00
3rd 	OTT 	Daniel Alfredsson 	Roughing 	09:03 	2:00
3rd 	PHI 	Alexei Zhamnov 	Roughing 	09:03 	2:00
3rd 	OTT 	Bryan Smolinski 	Roughing 	12:18 	2:00
3rd 	PHI 	Patrick Sharp 	Roughing 	12:18 	2:00
3rd 	OTT 	Todd Simpson 	Slashing 	14:21 	2:00
3rd 	PHI 	Patrick Sharp 	Too many men/ice - bench 	15:57 	2:00
3rd 	PHI 	Donald Brashear 	Instigator 	18:15 	2:00
3rd 	PHI 	Donald Brashear 	Roughing 	18:15 	2:00
3rd 	PHI 	Donald Brashear 	Fighting (maj) 	18:15 	5:00
3rd 	PHI 	Donald Brashear 	Fighting (maj) 	18:15 	5:00
3rd 	PHI 	Donald Brashear 	Misconduct (10 min) 	18:15 	0:00
3rd 	PHI 	Donald Brashear 	Game misconduct 	18:15 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Rob Ray 	Fighting (maj) 	18:15 	5:00
3rd 	PHI 	Branko Radivojevic 	Fighting (maj) 	18:15 	5:00
3rd 	PHI 	Branko Radivojevic 	Game misconduct 	18:15 	0:00
3rd 	PHI 	Branko Radivojevic 	Game misconduct 	18:15 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Shaun Van Allen 	Fighting (maj) 	18:15 	5:00
3rd 	OTT 	Shaun Van Allen 	Game misconduct 	18:15 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Shaun Van Allen 	Game misconduct 	18:15 	0:00
3rd 	PHI 	Danny Markov 	Fighting (maj) 	18:15 	5:00
3rd 	PHI 	Danny Markov 	Game misconduct 	18:15 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Todd Simpson 	Fighting (maj) 	18:15 	5:00
3rd 	OTT 	Todd Simpson 	Game misconduct 	18:15 	0:00
3rd 	PHI 	Robert Esche 	Goalie leave crease 	18:15 	2:00
3rd 	PHI 	Robert Esche 	Fighting (maj) 	18:15 	5:00
3rd 	PHI 	Robert Esche 	Game misconduct 	18:15 	0:00
3rd 	PHI 	Robert Esche 	Game misconduct 	18:15 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Patrick Lalime 	Goalie leave crease 	18:15 	2:00
3rd 	OTT 	Patrick Lalime 	Fighting (maj) 	18:15 	5:00
3rd 	OTT 	Patrick Lalime 	Game misconduct 	18:15 	0:00
3rd 	PHI 	Radovan Somik 	Fighting (maj) 	18:18 	5:00
3rd 	OTT 	Chris Neil 	Fighting (maj) 	18:18 	5:00
3rd 	PHI 	Mattias Timander 	Fighting (maj) 	18:18 	5:00
3rd 	OTT 	Zdeno Chara – served by Martin Havlat	Instigator 	18:18 	2:00
3rd 	OTT 	Zdeno Chara 	Fighting (maj) 	18:18 	5:00
3rd 	OTT 	Zdeno Chara 	Misconduct (10 min) 	18:18 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Zdeno Chara 	Game misconduct 	18:18 	0:00
3rd 	PHI 	Michal Handzus 	Fighting (maj) 	18:21 	5:00
3rd 	PHI 	Michal Handzus 	Misconduct (10 min) 	18:21 	0:00
3rd 	PHI 	Michal Handzus 	Game misconduct 	18:21 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Mike Fisher 	Fighting (maj) 	18:21 	5:00
3rd 	OTT 	Mike Fisher 	Misconduct (10 min) 	18:21 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Mike Fisher 	Game misconduct 	18:21 	0:00
3rd 	PHI 	Mark Recchi 	Fighting (maj) 	18:45 	5:00
3rd 	PHI 	Mark Recchi 	Game misconduct 	18:45 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Bryan Smolinski 	Fighting (maj) 	18:45 	5:00
3rd 	OTT 	Bryan Smolinski 	Game misconduct 	18:45 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Wade Redden 	Fighting (maj) 	18:45 	5:00
3rd 	OTT 	Wade Redden 	Misconduct (10 min) 	18:45 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Wade Redden 	Game misconduct 	18:45 	0:00
3rd 	PHI 	John Leclair – served by Simon Gagne 	Holding 	18:45 	2:00
3rd 	PHI 	John Leclair 	Fighting (maj) 	18:45 	5:00
3rd 	PHI 	John Leclair 	Misconduct (10 min) 	18:45 	0:00
3rd 	PHI 	John Leclair 	Game misconduct 	18:45 	0:00
3rd 	PHI 	Patrick Sharp 	Fighting (maj) 	18:47 	5:00
3rd 	PHI 	Patrick Sharp 	Misconduct (10 min) 	18:47 	0:00
3rd 	PHI 	Patrick Sharp 	Game misconduct 	18:47 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Jason Spezza 	Fighting (maj) 	18:47 	5:00
3rd 	OTT 	Jason Spezza 	Misconduct (10 min) 	18:47 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Jason Spezza 	Game misconduct 	18:47 	0:00
3rd 	OTT 	Jason Spezza 	Game misconduct 	18:47 	0:00
== Citations ==
== References ==
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Category:Philadelphia Flyers
Category:Ottawa Senators