On April 11th 1975 in the second game of their first round World Hockey Association (WHA) AVCO Cup playoff series, the New England Whalers and the Minnesota Fighting Saints stopped playing hockey and decided  to just try and kill each other. The game, played at the Hartford Civic Center aka The Mall, is known as The Brawl at The Mall.

The first period of the game between the WHA rivals was chippy and penalty-strewn. Both teams were notorious around the league for their hard-hitting physical play and there was no love lost between the Whalers and Fighting Saints. Early in the second period Saints’ defender Bill Butters and Whalers’  center Larry Pleau were in the penalty box serving matching penalties. At 1:10 in the period as both were leaving the box Butters immediately hit Pleau from behind sending the Whaler to the ice. Getting up, Pleau retaliated and, seeming instantly, all Hell broke loose. Both benches cleared as players from both sides joined the melee. Officials were completely overwhelmed; unable to stop the fighting going on at all corners of the ice. The brawl lasted more than 30 minutes before referees were finally able to gain control of the scrum. The most prominent part of the brawl was the straight up boxing match between Whaler Nick Fotiu and Jack Carlson of the Saints with both combatants throwing wild haymakers at each other for the entire length of the fight. Even the fans at the Civic Center tried to get in on the action, as beer cups started to rain down onto the ice. As the teams finally  settled down; the game was delayed while referees sorted out the mess. Across the entire game, 41 penalties were called amounting to 217 total penalty minutes; both WHA records.  The Whalers would eventually win the game, that took 3 hours and 47 minutes to complete,  in overtime 3-2 but the Fighting Saints would take the series 4 games to 2.

No known video of the game/fight exists. Part of the Whalers’ radio broadcast of the brawl,  with Bob Neumeier making the call and (future ESPN founder) Bill Rasmussen on color commentary, was originally released in 1976 on a 7’ record as the B-side of the famed Whalers Fight Song ‘Brass Bonanza’. A slightly longer version of the fight was released later in the year on a full length album of Whalers radio highlights titled: Score…Whalers!