Broadcasting history was made at old Madison Square Garden on March 16, 1947.
The chief protagonist was WHN Radio (1050) play by play guy Bert Lee who watched the biggest mass brawl in NHL history unfold before his eyes and the capacity crowd of 15,925 – until he finally cracked.
A 14-year-old going on 15 in two weeks, I was listening to the game intently when the Pier Six brawl erupted and Lee got into it but, as it turned out, he didn't know the gun was loaded.
The madness started when Canadiens defenseman Ken Reardon was checked by the Rangers Bryan Hextall and sticked in the mouth by Blueshirt center Cal Gardner," recalls The Old Scout.
"When Reardon went off for repairs, he had to walk past the Rangers bench and then a fan cursed Ken who swung his stick at the fan. From across the rink, Canadiens coach Dick Irvin mistakenly believed that the Rangers bench was attacking his guy."
"Get over and help Kenny," Irvin shouted at his troops whereupon the entire Montreal bench emptied and dashed across the ice to "save" their D-man. But since the invading Habs and defending Rangers couldn't fight in the thin corridor, everyone spilled out on to the ice. The exception was Reardon, who was the cause of it all.
"They hustled me to the infirmary before I knew what was going on," lamented Reardon.
What was going on was the hockey brawl to end all brawls and in his radio booth,
Bert Lee's emotions flew out the window and headed for the Hudson River.
Now picture the young Maven listening to Lee who suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs: "IT'S A RIOT! IT'S A RIOT!! IT'S A RIOT!!"
Reliving An Oldtime Rangers Radio Broadcast
Because of advances in technology and technique, <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers" target="_blank">Rangers</a> fans have been able to enjoy games on MSG Networks' telecasts as if you're virtually at the games.
I was so shaken, I ran to the hallway and shouted two flights downstairs where my Mom and Dad were with my Grandma and Grandpa: "IT'S A RIOT! IT'S A RIOT!! IT'S A RIOT!"
Since my Dad didn't know what was going on at MSG at the time, he figured young Stanley had flipped his lid. (He was right; I was as nuts as Lee.)
But the next morning, Dad got to understand what all the commotion was about. The entire back page of the Daily News featured nine photos in proper order, depicting the biggest brawl from start to finish.
That page is still in my scrapbook. And, yeah, IT WAS A RIOT! (FOR MORE ON THE GREATEST FIGHT, SEE THE NEXT COLUMN)