A night that will always be remembered by any Jets fan was “The Peca Hit”. Where were you when Teemu Selanne got clocked so cheaply by Mike Peca that it sent the game into a wild ride of endless bouts and bench wars. Peca would mysteriously disappear from the line-up, as the Cancuks feared for his well-being. They would hide him the rest of the game in the locker room, of course only after he served his penalty for blindsiding the Jets’ franchise player. The tough Finn would get up from the hit, which spun him around 1.5 times in mid-air. Back in Winnipeg, Jets fans flocked to the ticket windows to get their seats for the re-match, or revenge match, five weeks later in mid-March. That game would turn out to be rough, but nothing like the money’s worth the fans at Pacific Coliseum got that 9th day of February, 1995. This month’s Flashback takes you through each of the six main battles that occurred that night, complete with coverage from TSN. I believe it is Paul Romaniuk and Gary Green calling the game. Click on the video below and follow along!
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- Fight #1: Mike Peca blindsides Teemu Selanne, who is clearly away from the play. Tie Domi can be heard yelling from bench to the refs “You want a war? You’ve got a war”
- Fight #2: Kris King is double-bullied after wistle, which creates a series of multiple one-on-ones including Dave Manson vs. Tim Hunter
- Fight #3: Keith Tkachuk then pairs off with Dana Murzyn. Peca has yet to return to game since he cheapshotted Selanne in a cowardly move by the Canucks to “protect” him from Jets enforcers.
- Fight #4: Kris King vs. Gino Odgik right off the draw as the fights clearly become pre-meditated and the refs lose control of the game. It is well on its way to becoming the most violent game of the 94-95 shortened season.
- Fight #5: Dana Murzyn cross-checks Dallas Drake (another cheap shot) which creates Keith Tkachuk vs. Dana Murzyn. Then Tie Domi vs. Tim Hunter. Hunter bites Domi’s thumb clear for the cameras to see. Domi then can be heard warning the Canucks bench not to dress Peca in a game in Winnipeg five weeks from that night. The Bounty is now out for Peca, who has still not returned to the game.
- Fight #6: Dan Wilkinson vs. Gino Odjick. As Odjick skates back to bench, Jets defenseman Dave Manson squirts water at his face.
In another video we see some extended footage:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MURr4cN3N8&eurlThe
- Fight #7: Tie Domi takes on Trevor Linden in an attempt to rattle their star (Pavel Bure is not dressed this game), he then proceeds on trying to get to Tim Hunter. As they are escorted back to their benches, Domi can be heard warning the Canucks bench that they had better not dress Bure for the game back in Winnipeg. “Don’t dress Bure, that’s all I gotta say. Don’t dress Bure”. Also notable is the Russians getting in on the fights as we see Jets’ Igor Koralev and Alexei Zhamnov wrestling some Canucks.
- Fight #8: Darrin Shannon even gets in on the scraps taking on the uber-whiner Geoff Courtnall at centre ice.
The video clips end here, but the memory of that game is embedded in all Jets fans heads, forever.
