Looking back at the iconic Gallant moment in Moncton

Perhaps the greatest moment in the history of the Saint John Sea Dogs/Moncton Wildcats rivalry took place 10 years ago today.

The iconic image of Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant climbing the Moncton Coliseum glass to yell at the Wildcats coaching staff has, somewhat sadly, been overshadowed by so many of the great moments that came in the two seasons that followed (... which isn't that sad).

But let's try to remember this incident on this special anniversary. #NeverForget

10 years ago today, @monctonwildcats took a 2-0 series lead with a 9-3 win in front of a sold out crowd at the Moncton Coliseum.

Randy Cameron 2🚨1🍏, Scott Brannon 2🚨 & Gabriel Bourque 2🚨led the #Wildcats.#SeaDogs coach Gerard Gallant got a little heated at the end of it.👇 pic.twitter.com/I4quespHAm

— Denis Leblanc (@DenisL_1981) May 2, 2020

The moment came in the dying seconds of Game 2 of the 2010 President Cup final, which ended up being one of the worst losses in Sea Dogs playoff history. With the Wildcats leading 9-3 - and already up 1-0 in the series - Wildcats head coach Danny Flynn replaced starting goaltender Nicola Riopel with backup Shane Owen out of fear his star netminder may get forced into some rough stuff.

"It showed no respect,'' said Gallant to the Telegraph-Journal after the game. "It's two nights in a row he's done that (Owen entered the contest in the late going of Game 1). Like I said, win or lose, you don't do that. It's showing no respect for my coaching, like I'm going to run his goalie over or something like that.

"If I had done that in the past, that would be different, but it really upset me. I'll take it once, but not two nights in a row. Is my team a dirty team? (Did) we do something stupid? We took a couple of penalties, but there was nothing vicious. The last game he did it, that's fine. I can live with it, but two nights in a row in a 9-3 score. It's saying that Gerard Gallant is an idiot coach and he's going to try and run my goalie. That's what it's saying to me. You can ask him, but that's what it is.''

Flynn, who ironically went on to coach the Sea Dogs a few years later, had this response to the Times & Transcript.

"It's no reflection on Gerard Gallant and Mike Kelly whatsoever that we took our goalie out with 20 seconds left," Flynn said. "We rested our top guys upfront and on defence in the third period. (Gabriel) Bourque and (Kelsey) Tessier didn't play the last eight or nine minutes.

"The game was clearly decided and the play was getting chippy on both sides. We just thought it was the right thing to do instead of losing your starting goalie with an injury that's suffered in a scrum at the net."

Looking back now, it seems quite obvious that Gallant, in classic Gallant fashion, did and said much of this to get his team fired up. The Sea Dogs were an elite offensive team and looked pretty bad in the first two games of this series, scoring four total goals. In classic Gallant fashion, the tactic seemed to work with Saint John going on to win the next two games.

The incident also inspired this excellent t-shirt.