from Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic,
Wearing long, olive-green greatcoats and slipping and sliding along the ice in their military-issued boots, it was all just a little too slapstick until McCarthy heard a slight hissing sound.
It was mace — sprayed squarely into his eyes by one of the machine gun-carrying soldiers trying to stop the fights.
“I thought it was acid,” McCarthy says. “I didn’t even know what mace was at the time. All I know is, it stung my eyes and I couldn’t see. It was terrible.”
McCarthy was playing for the London Lions, a collection of Detroit Red Wings farmhands who had been relocated to England for one season.