Written by Conor Thompson
On May 20th, 1975 an event happened at game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Buffalo that we will probably never see again. In fact, it was a game that those in attendance and even the players could barely see. What is now known as “The Fog Game,” where the entire Buffalo Memorial Auditorium was covered in fog. Two big factors came into play to create the fog, with the first being The Aud had no air conditioning and second because it was spring time in Buffalo. With players not able to see the other end of the ice and with the arena turning into a sauna with temperatures reaching 90 degrees, this was one of the most memorable Stanley Cup games played.
Not only was this Stanley Final memorable for the fog, but it also involved another bizarre event this game. Sabre’s forward and former commentator Jim Lorentz noticed a bat flying around the ice. Instead of calling animal control Lorentz decided to solve the problem himself by knocking the bat down with his stick in one swing. This gave Lorentz the new name of “Batman.” To add to that, Philadelphia Flyers forward Rick MacLeish picked up the bat with his bare hands and dropped it in the penalty box.
The Sabres kept trying to edge their way to take the lead, but the Flyers seemed to always be one goal ahead. Buffalo’s defenseman, Bill Hajt, scored in the third period to even the score at 4-4 as the game headed into overtime. With the game constantly having to be stopped so all players on the ice could skate around to limit the fog, at 18:29 in overtime it finally happened. Rene Robert had the puck near the goal line and without hesitation fired a shot of legendary at Flyers goalie, Bernie Parent.