Vern Fiddler and Kyle Quincey drop the gloves during an alumni game.

Normally when the National Hockey League hosts alumni games between NHL stars of the past you can expect a pretty friendly affair. After all, all alumni games are exhibition contests and it is more of a nostalgia trip for the fans, and the players as well, than it is an actual competitive endeavor.

That's why on Sunday night when things appeared to get heated between former NHL forward Vern Fiddler and former NHL defenseman Kyle Quincey I was rather caught off guard.

It was Fiddler, who was playing for the Stars alumni, who got things started when he delivered a hit to Quincey, who was representing the Red Wings alumni, while Quincey was working with the puck behind the Red Wings net. The hit drew a bit of a gasp from the crowd that was watching on and it wasn't long after that Quincey would return the favor by delivering a hit of his own to Fiddler. That second hit appeared to be considerably more forceful and it sent both men tumbling down to the ice, this time drawing an even louder reaction from those in attendance.

I thought that would be the end of it but both men got up and appeared to be getting in each other's faces, and there were even a couple of slashes back and forth between the two for good measure as well. To my complete shock this would lead to Quincey and Fiddler squaring up near the center of the ice, with both men dropping the gloves and even removing their helmets as if they were prepared to go to war against one another.

The two men tangled up as if they were jockeying for position but this is when things started to look more than a little suspicious, and low and behold there was good reason for that. I won't spoil the surprise, although I may be doing so inadvertently by letting you in on the fact that there even was a surprise, but I have to say this was a pretty good prank on the part of Quincey, Fiddler, and whoever else was involved.