When King Of The Hockey Photographers Bruce Bennett brings his lens to The Garden next season, guaranteed that he'll produce some of the best hockey action on film you'll ever see.
But The Maven also can guarantee that you'll never see another photo like the one Bruce took on December 23, 1979 at The World's Most Famous Arena.
I can say this for certain because when have you ever seen an NHL player climb into the stands, accost a belligerent fan, remove the customer's shoe and then, BONGO, BONGO, BONGO whacks a hat trick of shoe hits to the head?
Bruins defenseman Mike Milbury spearheaded the invasion on the grounds that a Rangers fan – who else? – had rolled up his program into a shellegah and hit one of Mike's favorite teammates in the noggin hard enough that he deserved a game misconduct.
For Milbury, getting there was half the fun. He had to surmount the side glass, cross a moat – actually an aisle – and then climb stairs without the aid of a nearby usher who had gotten a case of lockjaw by now.
Since the NHL War Room had not been invented 46 years ago the assault was not "under further review." Which was just as well because it was hard to tell how Mike relieved the fan of his oxford, nor whether the rooter had smelly feet.
Mike obviously was having fun because then his buddies Al Secord and Bob Millar joined the fray while nearby fans didn't know whether to laugh, cry or run for another hot dog.
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Meanwhile, Bruce Bennett is taking picture after picture of this scene from Looney Tunes.
"Each and every moment stands on its own," says Bennett. "It's a microsecond of history frozen in time. Great moments and not great moments. So, if you look up my photos of Mike Milbury beating a fan over the head with his own shoe, yes, that was my photo."
Then, a pause and three little words: "An unforgettable moment!"