Coach Neilson’s promotion worked out better than fans could have imagined
The game ended in a 3-3 draw between the Vancouver Canucks and the Quebec Nordiques on March 20, 1982, at the Colisee in Quebec City. Not so notable in the result, but when a fan allegedly punched Dave (Tiger) Williams following an on-ice skirmish between Williams and Peter Stastny, several players went into the stands after the fan, as did Canucks coach Harry Neale.
Neale was suspended, and it led to Roger Neilson taking over as coach as he took the team to the 1982 Stanley Cup final.
After the fracas in Quebec, Province Canucks beat writer Tony Gallagher wrote:
Fallout from the Quebec incident is beginning to settle, but the Vancouver Canucks’ reaction is hardly one of distress.
Pierre Fournel, a Nordiques fan, has lodged a complaint against coach Harry Neale for allegedly striking him during the Saturday night melee. Quebec police will decide later this week whether formal charges will be laid against the Canuck coach.
And though defenceman Doug Halward seems almost certain to be suspended by the NHL for his trip into the stands where he threw several punches during the scuffle, Neale was claiming innocence.
“For him (Fournel) to maintain that I hurt him with that punch is ridiculous,” said Neale. “He hit (Tiger) Williams a couple of times and I swung at him but just tipped the edge of his nose. There is no way that hurt him.”
Halward, who may also be in danger of prosecution, refused any comment on the incident, feeling the less said the better.
Curt Fraser and Marc Crawford were the other players in the stands along with trainer Larry Ashley, but Fraser didn’t think it was too serious.
“For my part, all I was doing was making sure everyone stayed apart,” said Fraser. “I wanted to make sure nobody got at Doug.”
“If I get charged, I guess I’ll have to go back and make an appearance,” said Neale, who proceeded to have a few laughs about how he hasn’t lost his old spirit.
Ten years ago Neale took a poke at Vancouver Blazers winger Johnny McKenzie when he was coach of the Minnesota Fighting Saints.
“The whole thing has been blown out of proportion incredibly,” said associate coach Roger Neilson, who played the part of peacemaker.
“But I suspect there could be some suspensions. The league doesn’t take too kindly to players in the stands at anytime.”
League vice-president Brian O’Neill spoke with Neale and all the players involved Monday, but says there is no rush to make a decision and that he is “just gathering facts” at the moment.
“I think we are really more concerned about possible charges than what the league may do,” said Ashley. “There has been all kinds of trouble in that rink over the years. Those fans are crazy. One year in junior, St. Catharines had to forfeit a game to the Ramparts because their management refused to go back to Quebec. The fans burned the St. Catharines’ bus on an earlier trip. But you don’t want to go to a French (Quebec) court. You could get life.”
If Halward is suspended, Canucks will use both Neil Belland and Joe McDonnell in the same lineup or bring back Colin Campbell, who is ready to play after his knee injury. “I’m ready, it’s just that I’ve only practised with the team once,” said Campbell. “But on the six games left and the playoffs, I could be carried by enthusiasm alone.”
Later that spring, as the Canucks prepared to take on the Islanders in the Stanley Cup final, Vancouver Sun columnist James Lawton wrote on the events that had directed the Canucks to their first foray to the final series. Many of the players he spoke to cited Neilson’s impact stepping in for Neale as sparking the run. Lawton wrote:
Colin Campbell jokes that the catalyst has been his own return from injury. “There are so many different points to go back to,” he says. “The consensus is that we came together on the last big road trip when we tied Washington, beat Montreal, tied with Quebec and Harry had his fight with the fan. Who knows?
“You look at the job Roger Neilson has done and then wonder about Harry Neale’s self-confidence bringing a man of Roger’s quality in and before that Tom Watt. A whole lot of things have gone into shaping this team.”