<p>It&#8217;s been 11 years since the infamous line brawl between the <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/vancouver-canucks/line-combinations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vancouver Canucks</a> and <a href="https://flamesnation.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Calgary Flames</a>, and we&#8217;re still learning more details about it.</p>
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<p>Former Flame Brian McGrattan joined the Missin&#8217; Curfew podcast on Saturday – which was the 11th anniversary of the line brawl – to talk about more of the behind-the-scenes details.</p>
<p>The line brawl occurred during a Saturday night game between the Canucks and Flames, where the Flames started their fourth line, and then-Canucks head coach John Tortorella responded by starting his toughest players, including Kevin Bieksa in the faceoff dot. To no one&#8217;s surprise, a line brawl ensued, resulting in what would be the beginning of a game that saw 204 penalty minutes between the two teams.</p>
<p>That was followed up by another scuffle in the Flames&#8217; dressing room when Tortorella stormed over to yell at then-Flames head coach Bob Hartley.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;We [lost 13 of their last 16 games], and we lost a couple games at home. We got called in to the office. Our line had a goal in Winnipeg the game before and really only played six or seven minutes. Bob [Hartley] said &#8216;Listen, nobody else in that room deserves to start the game tonight. You guys had a good game, and you have not started a game all season. I&#8217;m gonna start you tonight in Vancouver,&#8217; and he left it at that.</p>
<p>&#8220;He left the room, and I just pulled everybody, and I said, &#8216;F&#8212; it. Let&#8217;s just fight them. Who cares if we lose another game. We&#8217;re not making the playoffs. Let&#8217;s just fight. We probably hate these guys more than any other team in the league. And if they dress their fourth line, let&#8217;s fight them.&#8217;</p>
<p>&#8220;And Torts got all f&#8212;ing out of whack if he would have dressed the Sedins. Those guys are in the Hall of Fame. I&#8217;ve never fought or jumped a player like that. If they would&#8217;ve dressed that line, I would have dumped the puck in and waited until the next shift. The plan was to fight the fourth line, not the Sedins.</p>
<p>&#8220;So anyways, they dressed the fourth line, and I was like, &#8216;Game on, baby.&#8217; And then the ref didn&#8217;t know what to do, because I was about 20 feet away from [Tom] Sestito with my gloves on my fingertips. Kevin Westgarth was holding his stick like a golf club because he&#8217;s never taken a draw in his life. The ref didn&#8217;t know what to do, Bieksa&#8217;s coming in and out, the D are getting ready to fight each other, and all that stuff.</p>
<p>&#8220;The puck drops, we fight, and they&#8217;re all pretty good fights. We get to the box, and the ref looks at Jones, Butler, Smid, Westgarth, all of them, and says &#8216;you guys are out of the game&#8217;. I got to stay in the game because my gloves hit the ice first, so technically I was the first fight, everybody else was secondary fights, so they got booted. I planned the whole thing and got to stay in the game.</p>
<p>&#8220;The period ends. I&#8217;m walking into the room, and Torts isn&#8217;t a big guy, and I feel this little nudge by my elbow, I look down, and it&#8217;s Torts. He&#8217;s like &#8216;F&#8212; you, Bob! I&#8217;m gonna f&#8212;ing kill you, you motherf&#8212;er!&#8217; I just stiffed-armed him right out into the wall, into the glove dryer. I got Torts pinned against everything, and their coaches are down the hallway, and I was going to drop my gloves and drop Torts.</p>
<p>&#8220;But I was saying that in my head, and the other thing I said was &#8216;There has to be a camera somewhere.&#8217; So I was looking down the hallway, and then looking at the door. I had no idea that camera was on the roof. I had no clue. So, anyways, I was saying &#8216;Should I hit him? Should I not? Should I hit him?&#8217;, and I&#8217;m like &#8216;If I drop a coach&#8230; I can&#8217;t do that.&#8217;</p>
<p>&#8220;So I&#8217;m glad it ended the way it did. But nobody knew that camera was on the roof. And the only reason the camera was on the roof was because it was Hockey Night in Canada. That&#8217;s the only games they put that camera there to get guys coming in and out of the dressing room.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>The Canucks would go on to win that game 3-2 in the shootout, with five defencemen between both teams playing more than 30 minutes as a result of the ejections.</p>
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It's been 11 years since the infamous line brawl between the <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/vancouver-canucks/line-combinations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vancouver Canucks</a> and <a href="https://flamesnation.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Calgary Flames</a>, and we're still learning more details about it.
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Former Flame Brian McGrattan joined the Missin' Curfew podcast on Saturday – which was the 11th anniversary of the line brawl – to talk about more of the behind-the-scenes details.

The line brawl occurred during a Saturday night game between the Canucks and Flames, where the Flames started their fourth line, and then-Canucks head coach John Tortorella responded by starting his toughest players, including Kevin Bieksa in the faceoff dot. To no one's surprise, a line brawl ensued, resulting in what would be the beginning of a game that saw 204 penalty minutes between the two teams.

That was followed up by another scuffle in the Flames' dressing room when Tortorella stormed over to yell at then-Flames head coach Bob Hartley.
<blockquote>"We [lost 13 of their last 16 games], and we lost a couple games at home. We got called in to the office. Our line had a goal in Winnipeg the game before and really only played six or seven minutes. Bob [Hartley] said 'Listen, nobody else in that room deserves to start the game tonight. You guys had a good game, and you have not started a game all season. I'm gonna start you tonight in Vancouver,' and he left it at that.

"He left the room, and I just pulled everybody, and I said, 'F--- it. Let's just fight them. Who cares if we lose another game. We're not making the playoffs. Let's just fight. We probably hate these guys more than any other team in the league. And if they dress their fourth line, let's fight them.'

"And Torts got all f---ing out of whack if he would have dressed the Sedins. Those guys are in the Hall of Fame. I've never fought or jumped a player like that. If they would've dressed that line, I would have dumped the puck in and waited until the next shift. The plan was to fight the fourth line, not the Sedins.

"So anyways, they dressed the fourth line, and I was like, 'Game on, baby.' And then the ref didn't know what to do, because I was about 20 feet away from [Tom] Sestito with my gloves on my fingertips. Kevin Westgarth was holding his stick like a golf club because he's never taken a draw in his life. The ref didn't know what to do, Bieksa's coming in and out, the D are getting ready to fight each other, and all that stuff.

"The puck drops, we fight, and they're all pretty good fights. We get to the box, and the ref looks at Jones, Butler, Smid, Westgarth, all of them, and says 'you guys are out of the game'. I got to stay in the game because my gloves hit the ice first, so technically I was the first fight, everybody else was secondary fights, so they got booted. I planned the whole thing and got to stay in the game.

"The period ends. I'm walking into the room, and Torts isn't a big guy, and I feel this little nudge by my elbow, I look down, and it's Torts. He's like 'F--- you, Bob! I'm gonna f---ing kill you, you motherf---er!' I just stiffed-armed him right out into the wall, into the glove dryer. I got Torts pinned against everything, and their coaches are down the hallway, and I was going to drop my gloves and drop Torts.

"But I was saying that in my head, and the other thing I said was 'There has to be a camera somewhere.' So I was looking down the hallway, and then looking at the door. I had no idea that camera was on the roof. I had no clue. So, anyways, I was saying 'Should I hit him? Should I not? Should I hit him?', and I'm like 'If I drop a coach... I can't do that.'

"So I'm glad it ended the way it did. But nobody knew that camera was on the roof. And the only reason the camera was on the roof was because it was Hockey Night in Canada. That's the only games they put that camera there to get guys coming in and out of the dressing room."</blockquote>
The Canucks would go on to win that game 3-2 in the shootout, with five defencemen between both teams playing more than 30 minutes as a result of the ejections.

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