24-year-old Kellan Lain had a dream to play in the NHL. On Saturday night, his dream came true…for literally 2 seconds. Donning a Vancouver Canucks jersey, Lain took center ice to face off against the Calgary Flames’ Kevin Wesgarth, who according to HockeyBuzz, has a “reputation in the league as a tough customer when it comes to dropping the mitts.” In fact he reportedly has “fought just about every heavy weight in the league during his seven professional years.”
Lain in his NHL debut, had most of his family in attendance to share the once in a lifetime experience. “My parents are here today. My brother flew in last night…this is something that you dream. It’s not only yours, but it’s also a family accomplishment,” the rookie said.
Within two seconds of the puck being dropped, a massive brawl broke out resulting in 8 ejections and 152 combined penalty minutes.
Canucks coach John Tortorello yelled at Flames coach Bob Hartley for putting out his tough guys. Tortorello didn’t stop there. During an intermission he got into it again with the Flames coaching staff in the hallway outside the locker room.
Tortorello subsequently apologized to his team for putting them in harm’s way.
“I can’t put our players at risk that way. I’m not proud of it. I’ve apologized to all of the players involved.” – Torts
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) January 19, 2014
As for Kellan Lain, he walked away with an NHL record in his very first game.
#Canucks Kellan Lain broke an #NHL record tonight. Fastest to fight from start of career, two seconds. Record was :12 from October 8th, 1963
— Sportsnet Pacific (@SNETPacific) January 19, 2014
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