DES MOINES, Iowa – The first game of the AHL season for the Iowa Wild. was also the first professional hockey game since Jan. 30, 2015, for Ryan Malone, who's in search of a spot on Tony Granato's 2018 PyeongChang U.S.A. Olympic roster.
And what a reunion it was for the 37-year-old and the game that he'd left over two years before.
Just before the end of the first period, Milwaukee's Andrew O'Brien decided he would take a few liberties with Minnesota's next big thing, Luke Kunin.
Unfortunately for the Admiral defenseman, Malone took old-school exception to it:
Stick taps and a roar of nearly 10,000 strong ensued as the Pittsburgh, PA.