Flames-Canucks Features Line Brawl Two Seconds Into Game

It took only two seconds into tonight's Flames-Canucks game for total madness. After the opening puck dropped, every player on the ice—but the goalies—paired up and threw punches.

This wasn't totally unpredictable, though, if one looked at the lineups. As the announcers in the video explain, the Flames, being the visiting team, released their starting lineup first, which was actually their fourth line. Once the Canucks saw that, coach John Tortorella did the same. That's how Vancouver winger Kellan Lain, making his NHL debut tonight, ended up spending his first professional seconds punching someone in the face. (Relevant: This article about Lain's first game from earlier today quotes him as saying, "I just try to play kind of a mean game.")

Lain, along with the other nine players, were given majors for fighting and game misconducts. Adding in a two-minute penalty on Calgary's Kevin Westgarth for roughing, a total of 152 penalty minutes were recorded in those first two seconds. There was also one unhappy Tortorella, who was leaning over the bench and yelling at Calgary's side as everything unfolded.

And the Torts rage didn't end there. Between periods, Tortorella—still visibly furious—went outside of the Flames' locker room to have another chat, resulting in a bunch of hockey players and some angry coaches all stuffed into a hallway, shoving and yelling. Heads are still far from cool.