from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

Has it really been 20 years since the Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche ignited one of the best rivalries — or feuds — in professional sports with a game on March 26 that will likely live in infamy?

“I have people all the time come up to me and say they were there,” Kris Draper said.

March 26, 1997.

You mention that date to Detroit sports fans of a certain age and they’ll tell you where they were when the Red Wings and Avalanche went after each other that evening, or what they were doing, or how they were going bonkers.

The entire evening can still produce endless goose bumps just thinking about it. The fights, the goals, the craziness of what was happening on the ice and in the stands — oh yes, and the fights.

read on

Below, watch 15 minutes of fight highlights from the game...