This would have been interesting.

Dion Phaneuf and Jarome Iginla, former teammates on the Calgary Flames, dropped their gloves and appeared ready to fight when they were broken up by the linesmen in Tuesday night's game between Iginla's Avalanche and Phaneuf's Leafs in Toronto.

The potential scrap came just after Phaneuf lined up Iginla for a big hit as the Colorado forward carried the puck over the Leafs' blue-line.

Phaneuf delivered only a glancing blow, but the Avs' Jamie McGinn took exception and exchanged words with Phaneuf before Iginla stepped in to, it seemed, fight his own battle.

Many in the crowd booed the linesmen's decision to stop the fight before it started, and much of the reaction on Twitter was the same.