Brian Spencer

Brian Spencer was drafted in the fifth round, 55th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1969 NHL Entry Draft. On December 12, 1970, when Spencer was called up to play with the Leafs in what would be his first NHL game on television, he telephoned his father Roy in British Columbia to tell him to watch the game that night on Hockey Night in Canada. Spencer was to be interviewed between periods of the game. However, a game featuring the Vancouver Canucks versus the California Golden Seals was aired instead. Infuriated, Roy Spencer drove 135 kilometres (84 mi) to Prince George, where the closest TV station, CKPG-TV (then a CBC Television affiliate), is located. When he arrived, he ordered station staff, at gunpoint, to broadcast the Maple Leafs game instead. The station complied, but as Roy Spencer left the station, he was confronted by the RCMP. After a brief stand-off Roy Spencer was…