War in '94: Probert vs. McSorley

[srehm1]

“He wasn’t going to give an inch and neither was I." Bob Probert



I remember watching the game on espn2…

Marty McSorley had been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins and had returned to the organization he broke in with way back in different times '83. He was a veteran tough guy. A famed enforcer. He had been involved in hundreds of fights to this point in his pro career. A true enforcer who had won two cups as protector of the Great One.

Probert was in what would turn out to be, his final season with Detroit. At the time, I never thought of him playing for another team. He was still one of the game's great fighters-just reaching the end of his peak run as undisputed champ. Another veteran fighter with "big fight" experience. A champion and already considered one of the game’s all-time great pugilists.

The two were almost prime representatives of what fighting in hockey was all about. They carried a will to win that pushed them to the top of the NHL’s fighting ranks. Amazing heart and desire. Both had fought epic battles and had the battle scars to prove it. They represented the gold standard for fighting in the NHL.

I think sometimes of all the great Mcsorley fights just leading up to this moment. Fights with Wendel Clark, Tim Hunter, Jim Kyte, Larry Playfair, Joe Kocur-his first bout with probert, Stu Grimson, Gino Odjick-so many great battles.

Probert had already made his mark as one of the game’s all-time best. An undisputed champ in one of hockey's greatest eras for fighting. It seemed to flash by. Gone were the days of nylund, Ewen, Semenko, Cochrane, Clark, Crowder. He still seemed to be going strong.

So, on this night I knew there might be a chance McSorley and Probert would meet up. I kept it in mind to watch that game. Had to-what if something happened?

There they were, behind the play. I remember Gary Thorne and Bill Clement were the broadcast crew for the "deuce". I still remember Thorne's call during the opening stages of the fight. "Probert and McSorley... they’re bumping... they’re talking... they’re fighting!" They had dropped the gloves. Probert with a push, McSorley with a quick pull on Probert's jersey. It was on. This would be good.

They both started to swing away, nothing wild, controlled. Initially they both had a good grip on each other and the punches were coming up a tad short. Maybe a glancing blow, or so, from each to start it off.

Probert begins throwing some uppercuts and Marty catches him with a nice overhand right. Probert continues with the uppercuts, not landing, but forcing marty to stay upright-and more importantly-in his jersey.

Marty makes his first attempt at pulling his jersey off, but probert sneaks in a quick uppercut and puts a halt to it. He's forced to go to the body, staying active and bringing the fight to Probert.

Probert comes up short with another uppercut and instead of rearing back for another punch, throws a quick backhand punch at McSorley, follows it up with a short right and another backhand. I don't recall seeing probert use that maneuver before this fight. Awesome. Probert tries to get the uppercut going again.

At this point Marty begins to pull his jersey off. He whips his right arm in and out to throw it off him. Once he gets free of it, McSorley goes on the offensive. The discarded jersey dangles from his left arm.

He throws some overhand rights, glancing probert a few times. Probert has a hold on McSorley's undershirt and tries to use his reach to keep him at bay.

Curiously enough, McSorley stops his offensive short and allows probert to seize the initiative. Probert begins mixing overhands and uppercuts. He then lands a beauty of an uppercut that snaps McSorley's head back. McSorley’s jersey, still stuck on his arm, may have blinded him to this punch. Probert then lands an overhand right and begins his trademark backward maneuvering to stay loose and on the offensive.

McSorley tries to answer. Probert gets tripped up slightly by McSorley's jersey, now fully off. He throws an uppercut that misses, but then drops a great overhand right. This shot catches McSorley flush on the jaw and stuns him, drops him to his knees.

McSorley was down but not out. Not even that shot-from the game's best-would stop him. It just made him want to come back stronger.

Probert seemed to allow mcSorley a chance to get back up. He held up for a moment. Perhaps he thought mcsorley was done and the linesmen would intervene, or perhaps he had too much respect for a warrior like McSorley to finish him off for good.

McSorley got back to his feet, and for all the respect Probert had for him, there was still a fight to be won. He was now in control of this one and wanted to keep up the pressure on McSorley. He landed a few more right hands, maybe 4 in all of varying quality. McSorley finally was able to get in close. The linesmen try to intervene. McSorely would have none of that.

He throws a right and then switches to his left. An audacious move considering the right hands that Probert had been landing. He fires off a few quick lefts and Probert answers with a nice forearm smack into McSorley's face. Then another. Probert then throws a nice uppercut/overhand combination.

A linesmen appears to be ready to get in and Mcsorley, bleeding from a Probert right, yells "No!" The battle rages on...

McSorley gets his right free and the two begin to trade from long range. At one point, their fists collide with each other. McSorley lands. Probert lands. McSorley then lands a good right hand-Probert answers back! They're against the boards behind the Pittsburgh net. They become wrapped up. The linesmen finally get in to end it. They exchange some words. Both are exhausted.

They skate to the penalty box. Probert, slow, steady. McSorley with no jersey on, bloodied but unbowed. he looks like he's still got plenty in his tank for another round. Amazing.

They’re in the box. Probert breathing heavily, bent over. McSorley wide eyed, talking. What a fight!

[srehm1]

I knew I had watched the greatest fight of all-time. It had everything in it. Two great fighters. Both, masters of their craft. It had momentum shifts. There was heart on full display here. A fighter lifting himself off the ice to stay in the fight. A great comeback. Unbelievable will to win on both sides. A small show of respect between two great warriors, at its conclusion.

Of course, this is just my opinion and as a Probert fan I am biased with my ‘greatest fight of all–time’ call. There may be fights with just as much heart, desire and will to win in them-but they didn’t have these two hockey fighting greats. Both, basically showing how great they were with this one fight.

At the end of that year, I traded for a 93-94 season tape set. It had the same espn2 version of the fight. Later on, I was able to get the Detroit feed. Loved Mickey Redmond's call on the fight "... and probert's giving him a backhand cuff... Probert just staggered mcsorley and dropped him to his knees... that is a fight for all time right there-you just saw it!" Redmond had some great calls in probert fights.

I liked both the espn2 feed and the Detroit feed of this fight for different reasons. The commentary for both is very good. I liked Bill Clement’s call “Oh, baby! Oh, baby! Did McSorley get rocked?” However, I’ve grown accustomed to Mickey Redmond’s calls during Probert fights, so I like the Detroit feed a little better. It also has a full view of the fight. There are no real poor camera angles like the espn2 version with the shot from deep behind the penguin’s bench or a fan’s head getting in the way. The Detroit feed also comes with a good view of the final phase of the fight behind the Pittsburgh net. You get a nice close view of one of probert’s forearm smashes into McSorley’s face-who doesn’t love that?

In his book ‘Tough Guy: My Life On the Edge’, Probert talked about this fight with McSorley. Here is what he had to say:

The fight I remember most from the 93-94 season was a scrap on February 4 with Marty McSorley, who was with the Penguins. I was up all night before that fight, out partying. At the end of the first, we were up 2-1, when there was a little shoving and we dropped the gloves.

It was a pretty long fight-somebody clocked it 93 seconds. Two or three different times, the linesmen started to come in and then got out. I think they were both a little surprised at the fact that we were both looking to keep fighting, but part of that is just who we are. He wasn’t going to give an inch and neither was I. We were both comfortable we could handle the situation.

We were jockeying for position and trying to move each other off balance. It was a good, clean fight. There was nothing dirty-a lot of mutual respect there. People have watched the tape and noticed that we said something to each other after that fight. You know what it was? My finger was stuck in one of the holes of his helmet. So when the linesmen were separating us, I said, “My finger is stuck.” And instead of jerking his head back, Marty put his head down and said to the linesman “Take his finger out.” So the linesman reached over and pulled it out. Then I just acknowledged the fact that he was respectful about the whole thing.

When Marty remembered the fight, he said, “There might be instances where you feel somebody is less than honourable or less than worthy of respect, and in those cases I might not have been as kind or open-minded about the finger.”

I was just bagged after that one. It was the most tired I had ever been after a fight. When I came off, Mo Melly patted me on the back and said, “You are a ****ing machine to pull that one out of your ass.”

Dani was there waiting for me after the game, and as soon as she saw me, she said, “Hey baby, anything I can get you? A coke? A smoke? An oxygen mask, maybe?”

Here are both feeds of the fight:
Espn2

Marty McSorley vs

Detroit

Marty McSorley vs

Don Cherry Coaches Corner segment:

Bob Probert vs.

So there you have it. My take on the ‘War in ’94: Probert vs. McSorley’. A fight I’m convinced will go down as one of the great fights of them all. The more I think about it, that quote from mickey Redmond during his call that night really rings true. “That is a fight for all time right there-you just saw it!”

[kam]

I remember watching it live, I still have it on VHS.

[Blues 34]

Great description of an all time classic fight. Great thread

[I like Boobs]

I remember taping this fight off of one of those old school HUGE satellite dishes, and my jaw literally hit the floor. Literally. I had no doubt at the time that I was watching one of the greatest fights that I'd ever seen, featuring two of the best to ever drop the gloves. I bet you I re-wound that tape well over a dozen times after it was all said and done. What a scrap.

I don't know if this is Probert's "Signature" fight or not, I always look at this one, the second Domi fight, the Crowder revenge fight, the two Coxe fights... I could keep going. But this is easily one of the greatest fights in NHL history.

Great job SREHM, hell of a thread brother.

[Killah_punk]

This fight was a beauty. I was a fan of both fighters and i was a Penguins fan who was pumped having McSorely back in the burgh. I remember watching the fight a thinking man Marty has one hell of a chin and heart to trade like that with the greatest enforcer to ever play the game. Even thou Probert probably gets the decison in this one it seem to help McSorely's confidence as he would not lose another fight til the end of the 95-96 season. Fights like this one is the reason why sites like this one exist, a battle of two warriors.

[mikebflorida]

I also watched it live and remember just being in AWE of those 2 during and after the fight.

It's the best fight I have ever seen. Cochrane/Nystrom was an amazing fight but this one blows it away. Knockdown punches, helmets flying, upper cuts, backhands, lefts, rights, the incredible stamina, the cuts, and the sportsmanship and respect shown at the end is beyond anything else I've ever seen in the sport.

Even though I gave the win to Probie, it was probably McSorley's best fight of his career!

Two warriors doesn't quite capture the awesomeness of this fight.

We may yet see a battle like this in today's game but I doubt it will ever top this one because you're talking about 2 of the top 10 tough guys of all time and those meetings are very rare and I doubt we'll ever see the top 10 change again because today's game just doesn't allow for a heavyweight to put in 200+ fights in a career, there just aren't enough to go around and accumulate that many fights and that many "wars" that are iconic and memorable.

I truly miss the days of those 2 epic scrappers but am damn glad I was around to witness it.

[Morning Wood]

I remember watching this live... truly amazed at what was happenening in front of me... I think I jumped the highest when ESPN2 decided do show the benches... I was like, "what the F**k"... lmao... When my buddy and I talk about great fights, this one often comes up and we both mention the dumbass who decided that the bench shot was a good one...

Thank you for posting the Detroit feed with Redmond... Wish I had that one from the beginning... Classic stuff we don't see much of anymore.

[mikebflorida]

Originally Posted by Morning Wood

I remember watching this live... truly amazed at what was happenening in front of me... I think I jumped the highest when ESPN2 decided do show the benches... I was like, "what the F**k"... lmao... When my buddy and I talk about great fights, this one often comes up and we both mention the dumbass who decided that the bench shot was a good one...

Thank you for posting the Detroit feed with Redmond... Wish I had that one from the beginning... Classic stuff we don't see much of anymore.

I'm surprised they didn't go to a commercial which they had a horribly annoying habit of doing. Play would stop and a skirmish starts and they would cut to a commercial, almost an anti-fighting stance by ESPN but luckily this fight started with the game still going.

The Detroit feed is obviously better.

[Travis24]

Great memories of this fight. I was in my senior year at Pitt, and working nights cleaning carpets in the AT&T building on Grant St. downtown to get through school. I heard they fought while I was at work and then I saw the late news feeds saying that one of the all-time great fights had occured. When I got home I told my girlfriend (now my wife) that I was staying up to see the fight all the way through on the replay and of course threw a tape in the VHS. I then watched the game, taped the fight, and got to see this battle between two true warriors. It was truly a great moment as a hockey fight fan.

[Johnny Pie]

Truly one of the best fights ever. It had everything. Two top fighters who knew they were in for a death match. Both fighters were involved in their share of long punch outs that tested your stamina along with your will. But in this fight I think there was the added determination because each knew who they were tangling with. I just felt watching this fight they understood this was something special and it brought out even more from two great warriors. When McSorley got hit with that overhand right you can tell he was stunned but you could also sense his fighting spirit. He wasn't going to give in even though you knew he was stunned. Tremendous heart shown. Reminds me of some of the best boxing matches ever. Gatti vs Ward. The determination and will was amazing. The champ got the win but McSorley proved how special he was. Great memory.

[Jack Schitt]

Great fight, great description by srhem, and a classic Coaches Corner in the second clip. This thread gets two thumbs up.

[GOON 21]

This is a all time NHL hockey scrap between 2 monster warriors and in everyones top 5, top 10 all time great fights list


I have a quick funny story about this fight. It was while i was working on a school night at a local hotel (great job btw) long story short i was a bellman/concierge and i was usually helping guests and assiting salespeople etc, etc.


This happen to be a mid winter night (usually a slow time of the year at the hotel) and i would sometimes take a room key and run in a room for a couple mins, sneak a peek at the TV, watch a game, etc. Now your not allowed to do this, but for a couple of minutes on a slow night its not the end of the world. ---- Well i grabbed a key and ran down to a empty room, flipping Channels and BOOM i catch this game and fight literally 10 seconds before it starts. My timing couldnt be any better to catch this epic event! (Talk about lucky lol) --- No joke my timing was P-E-R-F-E-C-T!!


I watch the fight, my jaw drops and i cannot believe what im witnessing. (BTW This is when im still at my FREAK fanatic stage of hockey and fights lol) and i know im witnessing something special, these guys seemed like they would not stop fighting, action packed and toe to toe by 2 guys i LOVED!!. Well the fight ends and my body is f(king pumped up and im amped up. Im so pumped up and excited that my thigh muscle started to cramp up and i know have to go back to my station/area and im trying to do it all amped up and with a cramped up thigh muscle lol


when i get back to the front desk area (my station) I also see the guy who worked at the indoor pool area (he was a hockey fan) and i told him i just saw the best hockey fight ever (he wasnt a big fight fan, but a hockey fan). I just remember being on cloud 9 the rest of that slow night and couldnt wait to get home and watch the highlights because i knew that fight would be on the highlightes, it was 2 good 2 not be on again


It just a special silly lil memory i have but something that i will never forget, OF COURSE THE FIGHT ITSELF IS SPECIAL, but the events that led up to and after the fight always bring me down memory lane and good times in my life


Thanks for listening lol

[srehm1]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I've been working on and tweaking this piece for a while now. I figured this could generate a little discussion.

McSorley had a great year in 93-94. He had a good brawl with Scott Levins and took it to Mark janssens. He did get caught by Berube for a flash kd and of course this big fight with Probert. I also remember him fighting Grimson-stunning Grimson twice with good shots. he also had a long fight with gino odjick-the fight he suckered Gino late after the linesman had him.

In the preseason, he had a good one with Joe Kocur. i've never seen the full fight. JK apparently dropped McSorley with an uppercut early in the fight and then-in typical marty style-he came back with a vengeance. the televised portion of the fight shows mcsorley in control and landing on Kocur.

I thought the whole Pittsburgh episode was strange-he was traded back to LA at mid season.

[Colt Seavers]

Great breakdown! Appreciate your time on this!