#1 THE BRAWL
3895 fans were in attendance at Centre 200 on this day, sixteen years ago, December 30th, 2000. But you might be able to find 10 000 people in Cape Breton who would claim they were there for one of the most famous (and/or infamous) moments in recent QMJHL history, and the apex of bad blood between the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and the Halifax Mooseheads.
Geography made the Eagles and Mooseheads natural rivals. And in the early days of the QMJHL in both cities, physical play like Kloucek and Tanguay and a collection of tough guys like Trevor Ettinger and Carlyle Lewis only made things escalate. At the end of the year 2000, things would boil over to a place where fisticuffs are rarely seen- the pregame warmup.
In 2000-01, a central figure in the Nova Scotian rivalry was a native of Windsor (the birthplace of hockey), Nick Greenough. Greenough came over to Halifax in a deal from Val-d’Or the prior season. Greenough was a tough customer (367 penalty minutes in 99-00) who could contribute the odd goal (7 goals and 8 assists as a 19 year old). But prior to the 00-01 season, Greenough was in a fight of a different kind- for the third 20 year old spot on the Mooseheads roster.
Halifax would elect to keep Greenough and a result, Ryan Flinn, a Halifax native and a draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings who had 33 points and 365 penalty minutes at 19, was let go. Given his status as a fighter (ableit one who could provide offense) Flinn had fought with all of the notable tough guys Cape Breton had to offer during his time in Halifax- Ettinger, Sandro Sbrocca, and in the final game he’d ever play against the Eagles, Flinn once again fought Hunter Lahache.
Losing his roster spot in Halifax, Flinn made his way to Cape Breton where Lahache was one of the club’s alternate captains. Lahache arrived in Cape Breton the prior year in a deal with Quebec as a raw 17 year old rookie. While the blueliner would refine and improve his game in three seasons with the Eagles, from the start the hulking defenseman would make a mark with his fists and by standing up for his team.
Nicknamed “The Deputy” by then play by play man Glenn Craig, Hunter Lahache would traditionally not leave the Centre 200 ice surface after warmup until all others had departed. In Halifax, Greenough also wore an “A” on his sweater and similarly did not enjoy when others left the ice after he did. When Halifax rolled into Sydney on November 5th, 2000, Greenough and Lahache would “discuss” the situation at warmup’s end.
Cape Breton would win the game 5-2. In the final minute Greenough would drop the gloves with skilled Cape Breton sniper and pest Olivier Proulx. Although the next meeting was over 50 days away, feelings between the two teams would do nothing but simmer before boiling over. For the third straight season the Eagles and Mooseheads would have a home and home during the holidays and on December 30th the set would open east of the Causeway.
As warmup came to an end Lahache and Greenough stared off, each standing at a distance next to their respective benches while having a less than friendly conversation. Halifax’s Jules-Edy Laraque, whose role in the affair would be hotly debated by Eagles and Mooseheads fans for years to come, also remained on the ice standing on the Halifax side of the ice.
Televisions in the main concourse of Centre 200 showed the staredown and soon even those who had been socializing made their way into the rink area to get a first hand look at the face-off. Lahache told Greenough that the two players were going to get suspended, that Greenough should leave the ice and the two could have their expected scrap when the game began. Neither man was leaving the ice, though (even after the buzzer sounded and the zamboni circled the ice), so Lahache took off his helmet and gloves and after further delay, skated towards the Mooseheads forward.
Flinn was watching the affair from the dressing room tunnel and was restrained from coming out on the ice. Irritated by Greenough’s refusal to leave after several moments, Lahache pulled back and fired the first shot at Greenough, eventually taking him down as the fans went wild. Laraque would jump in and would later describe himself as being the peacemaker as he tried to pry Lahache away from his teammate- although some on the Cape Breton side would argue Laraque was holding Lahache in place so Greenough could land shots of his own.
Laraque’s invovlement was all the inspiration Flinn needed to jump in and get involved, as he leapt onto the ice to take a few punches at Greenough who was trying to defend against Lahache. All three game officials made their way onto the ice to break up the melee, and with each official grabbing a man or two, it appeared to settle down.
Jonathan Boone of the Mooseheads then wandered on to the playing surface, which quickly prompted George Davis of the Screaming Eagles to do the same. Davis was a rookie enforcer for Cape Breton who made his name in training camp by going toe to toe with Lahache. In the early stages of the fight neither man was able to land much in the way of an impactful shot, but Davis would score a takedown on Boone and proceed to wave to staff on the Mooseheads bench as he headed for the dressing room. Following the fracas, the entirety of both teams had gathered by the bench divider and had words before officials were finally able to clear the scene.
All six skaters involved were given instigator penalties and game misconducts and the game did not start until after 8 PM as everything was sorted out. Each team battled it out with just 15 skaters in a back and forth affair that featured no more fights but plenty of goals- Halifax’s Jason King would score the winner on Neil Logan (replacing the pulled Daniel Boisclair with Marc-André Fleury at the world under 17s) .
Amazingly, as the aftermath was being sorted out, the QMJHL did not yet hand out suspensions prior to the rematch- except to the coaches. General manager Gaetan Larue was behind the Eagles bench and elected to start all three of the brawl participants, and they received a predictably hostile response in Halifax. Not surprisingly there were three fights in the opening seven minutes of the rematch.
This game would see the end of the Flinn/Greenough story as they dropped the mitts at the 7:03 mark of the opening period. Flinn scored a victory in the fight and unfortunately Greenough would suffer a shoulder injury that would end his junior career. The teams would stick to hockey for the rest of the day and there were no further fights in what was another very entertaining contest.
Cape Breton won the rematch 5-3, with Dominic Noel’s goal at the end of the second period standing as the winner. But while the fireworks between Cape Breton and Halifax would never reach that level again, the story was not yet over. The QMJHL issued lengthy suspensions to all involved, coming down harsher on the Cape Breton players. The Screaming Eagles paid for an appeal process, and in one of the more fascinating rulings in QMJHL history, the appeal process resulted in LONGER suspensions for Lahache and Flinn.
When the smoke cleared, Hunter Lahache was given twelve games, Ryan Flinn was handed nine, Nick Greenough received eight (but served none due to injury) and Jules-Edy Laraque took a seven game ban. Boone and Davis were suspended for five games each.
Like everything else regarding the infamous brawl, the suspensions would be argued over by the fans and the rivalry between players would remain strong. While it was debated as to who should have received what, who was at fault for this and that- one thing could not be debated: the passion from members of the Screaming Eagles and Mooseheads, for their own teams, and for the Battle of Nova Scotia.