Michelle R. Martinelli

Have you ever seen two goalies duke it out at center ice while their teammates furiously tangle with each other in the background?

Almost 20 years ago to the date, the NHL had its greatest brawl of all-time - a classic because of the tension building up to it and, really, because they don't let players fight like this anymore - at a venue soon-to-be demolished, the Joe Louis Arena.

March 26, 1997: The Detroit Red Wings vs. the Colorado Avalanche.

As retired Red Wings center Kris Draper recently said in The Players' Tribune: "I rarely ever use the word 'hate,' but I'll use it here. We hated them. They hated us. That's just the way it was."

So how on earth did these two rival teams end up brawling in Hockeytown?

There's a lot of brutal background to it, but the intensity of these teams' hatred for each other began to peak when the Red Wings were still in the Western Conference and Colorado was about to send Detroit home in the 1996 conference finals.

Claude Lemieux checked Draper from behind, throwing him into the boards and shattering the whole right side of his face. Draper broke his jaw, cheekbone, orbital bone and nose, and the Red Wings were out for revenge not just against the Avs, but Lemieux in particular.

Colorado Avalanche Claude Lemieux skates away from Detroit Red Wing Kris Draper. (AP Photo/Rocky Mountain News, Steve Dykes)

Fast forward 301 days since that hit. Draper is back on the ice, both teams are still powerhouses and it was only a matter of time before the tension between these teams erupted when they met in Detroit for their fourth and final regular-season matchup.

As Draper described it, "you could feel the hatred building and building" up to that game.

More from Draper in The Players' Tribune:

"Igor Larionov and Peter Forsberg, two of the most skilled guys in the league, got into a wrestling match by our bench. At first it was nothing - just a small scuffle. The refs came over to break it up. The building was quiet.

And then you just heard this incredible roar out of nowhere.

I look to center ice, and there's Mac.

Darren McCarty, the guy who visited me in the hospital every day. Mac is reigning punches down on Claude Lemieux right in front of our bench. Lemieux's helmet pops off, and he goes down on all fours, trying to turtle to protect himself.

And then another huge roar - louder than the first one.

Patrick Roy leaves his net. Mike Vernon leaves his net.

They're skating toward one another from across the rink, like a Wild West movie."

Colorado Avalanche's Claude Lemieux ducks his head as Detroit Red Wings' Darren McCarty swings at him.(AP Photo/Tom Pidgeon)

That's how fans remember it, too, because it truly was so unprecedented, beyond epic and absolutely unforgettable.

In a game the Wings ended up winning, 6-5 in overtime, both teams walked away amassing 39 penalties for 148 total minutes in the box.

The best part? It happened again a year later.