Kirk Maltby: McCarty would be ejected if “Fight Night at the Joe” were today

Even if you weren't a fan of the Detroit Red Wings or Colorado Avalanche, games between these two once-historic rivals were certainly must see TV, regardless if they took place in the regular season or in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

But how different would things have been had those legendary battles taken place on the ice in today's NHL? According to one former member of the famous "Grind Line", significantly. 

Of course, everyone remembers March 26, 1997, affectionately known as "Fight Night at the Joe". 

Forward Darren McCarty exacted revenge on Avs forward Claude Lemieux, beating him into a pulp while Lemieux infamously "turtled" in retaliation for the horrific hit he leveled on Kris Draper in the previous year's postseason. Of course, that set off a wild melee on the ice that included goaltenders Patrick Roy and Mike Vernon's infamous scrap. 

Detroit would emerge victorious in the game, defeating the Avalanche 6-5 in overtime, with the game-winner appropriately being scored by McCarty.

But according to Kirk Maltby, who won the Stanley Cup four times with Detroit alongside McCarty, his Grind Line teammate wouldn't have been in position to tally the OT winner had the game occurred in today's NHL. 

"Mac scores in overtime, where in today’s game, he’d probably have been kicked out and gotten a 20-game suspension," Maltby told The Detroit Free Press this week. "I think it’s safe to say, between Mac and Shanny being in that melee, they’d probably have been kicked out and Mac would have been suspended after that. It’s funny how the game has evolved."

McCarty was only issued a pair of roughing minors, as opposed to Maltby's view of potential punishment today that almost certainly would have been more severe.