December, 1977 – Steve Carmen

The rivalry between Hamilton and Oswego was quite intense during the 70s and 80s. In my introduction, we were playing at Oswego and not doing well. A third period goal that pretty much sealed our fate was attributed, by one of the many unruly fans, to an alleged mistake by junior defenseman Mark Davitt. In those days, the visitors’ bench at Oswego had two rows, and the second row was at the same level as, and not separated from, the fans in the bleachers immediately behind. As Davitt came off the ice to take his place on the second row bench, one fan in the bleachers continued his harassment. After taking about five seconds of that, Davitt stood and charged up into the bleachers with mayhem on his mind. With Coach Karin and his teammates yelling at him to come back, Davitt chased the loudmouth to the top of the bleachers, skate blades clanking on metal bleachers and the loudmouth about three feet from his grasp the whole way. With no place to go, the pursued disappeared over the back of the bleachers (presumably surviving the 15 foot drop to the concrete below) and Davitt returned to his place on the bench. The fans in the area became much more respectful!

– Steve Carmen