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BOSTON – Anaheim Ducks goaltending coach Peter Budaj is part of one of my favorite memories covering the American Hockey League. And, we just reminisced about what occurred on Nov. 12, 2004 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I.
The P-Bruins were hosting Hershey Bears that night when a fight broke out between the P-Bruins’ Jay Henderson and Hershey’s Jeff Finger. It wasn’t much of a fight, but since there were less than five minutes remaining in the second period, both players were sent to their respective locker rooms. In the hallway, the two got into it again and both benches emptied into the lower concourse. The only two players remaining on the ice were P-Bruins goalie Hannu Toivonen and Budaj. They began to pass the puck back and forth before they decided to meet at center ice and drop the gloves.
I just asked Budaj about it between periods tonight and he smiled. Toivonen, who always admits he got his “ass handed to him” during his only career fight, is the goaltending coach for the Toronto Marlies.
“It was just me and him on the ice,” Toivonen told me years later. “Me not knowing any better how tough a customer he was, and everybody was going at it, he asked me to go so I tried to do my best and it was basically hang on because I had no idea what I was doing. Sometimes you’ve got to step up to the plate and defend your teammates and try to do your best in any given situation. Obviously, he knew what he was doing and it’s a funny moment in my career. It’s not like I’m looking for anything like that, but it’s a good story and something to be still laughing about.”
Longtime Bruins goalie coach, Bob Essensa, was in attendance that night in Providence and later said, “It was the only time I saw a fight end in a handshake.”
Google the fight. You won’t be disappointed.
