[Ed. Note: Some lists chronicle the best in hockey. Others the worst. Others the most memorable or greatest or essential. What Puck Daddy’s 2016 Summer Series seeks to do is capture those indefinable, quirky, oddities that occur every season. Moments that defy prediction or, in some cases, logical explanation. Welcome to WEIRD NHL.]

By: CJ Burns with an assist from the rest of the gang at Sons of Penn

1. Like a bat out of hell

The Broad Street Bullies of old left no shortage of interesting moments in their storied run atop the National Hockey League in the 1970’s.

By punching and bulldozing their way onto the scene just a few short years after their acceptance into the league, the Flyers earned their nickname and thrived on the fear that they put into the hearts and minds of their opponents in the old days. They bullied their way all the way to the top in back-to-back seasons, repeating as champions in the ‘74-75 season after winning their first Stanley Cup the year prior.

It took them six games to take down the Buffalo Sabres and successfully defend their title in 1975, but it was a Game 3 overtime loss that stands alone in its level of weird.

During a stoppage in the first period at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, the Flyers and Sabres were joined by an unruly fan that was apparently unhappy with its upper level seating and decided to get a closer look at the action.

Via Sons of Penn More

The bat swooped down from the rafters of the Auditorium, which didn’t feature air conditioning, and navigated through the cold air just a few feet above the ice. That was until Sabres forward Jim Lorentz, showing off the impressive hand-eye coordination that helped him gather 70 points that season, swatted the bat out of mid-air and became responsible for the only known animal death to occur at an NHL game. [Ed. Note: Panthers’ rat incident was not during game.]

Via Sons of Penn More

It wasn’t over, though.

Flyers sniper Rick MacLeish bestowed the custodial responsibilities upon himself, scooping up the bat barehanded after sliding it to the faceoff dot with his stick and tossing it into the penalty box near his unsuspecting teammate.

Via Sons of Penn More

According to defenseman Jimmy Watson, MacLeish didn’t have any reservations about picking up the bat, although that may be because MacLeish didn’t know what rabies was.

After the bat was given a game misconduct, Game 3 took another memorable turn. An immense fog began creeping up from the ice due to the heat and lack of A/C in the building, forcing play to be stopped on many occasions. Players were ordered to skate in circles and team employees used bed sheets sort of like fans to try to open up the air, which had gotten so foggy that players couldn’t see the puck until it was at their feet.

The Sabres would win Game 3 in overtime on a goal from a bad angle, ending one of the strangest contests in NHL history.

2. Tie Domi exchanges blows with a fan

The list of people that would have loved to get a chance to swing at Tie Domi at least one time during his playing career is both extensive and mostly warranted.

On March 29, 2001, PA native Chris Falcone got to cross his name off of that list.

Domi, who sits third all-time with 3,515 penalty minutes, was an agitator and enforcer that knew how to get under the skin of both his opponents and the opposing fan base. On this night, he Domi’d as hard as he ever Domi’d before, spraying heckling fans with his water bottle several times and prompting Falcone to lunge over the penalty box glass to swipe at him. Then, all hell broke loose.