Throwback: Dec 12, 1996 Brendan Shanahan takes on Bob Probert.

We are taking you back into the past today for a classic throwback featuring 2 truly legendary figures in the sport of hockey in the form of Bob Probert and Brendan Shanahan. On this very day back in 1992 these two titans of hockey crossed paths and unsurprisingly with Probert involved this one ended in fisticuffs, although it would be a little unfair to blame Probert for this particular clash.

The Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks were going head to head and a dump in inside of the Red Wings zone had Probert chasing the puck behind the net, where Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood was waiting. It was Osgood who started the whole thing off when he decided to get in a shot of his own on Probert, sticking his paddle out as the Blackhawks enforcer skated by and causing him to collide with Shanahan who was just behind Osgood at the time.

Although it wasn't captured on the video itself, you can hear the broadcast crew describing the fact that Probert had just taken a swing at Osgood behind the play and that is when all hell breaks loose. Shanahan quickly comes to the defense of his goaltender, as would any player in a situation where his goaltender was being attacked by the opposing team's enforcer, leading to a fight between Probert and Shanahan.

In the early going of the exchange it was all Probert, with the Blackhawks enforcer throwing the first 5 or 6 punches of the fight with none coming back the other way. None of those initial blows would really connect however and it wasn't until both men started throwing back and forth that we saw some punches finding their mark on the opposition. Probert appeared to take the worst of it from a superficial perspective, with a cut opening up on his cheek at some point during the exchange. 

By the end of this one Shanahan had lost most of his equipment and both of these guys seemed happy to have the National Hockey League's officials step in and put an end to the exchange.