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Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Even the Zebras are Full of Christmas Cheer

Found this little nugget of joy for the holiday season... Scroll down for the picture...

From the St. Paul (Alberta) Journal

Brawl 'a black mark on the league'... Jay Gutteridge - Journal Staff

Things got ugly at the Manitou Kihew Arena in Saddle Lake last Tuesday.

A brawl broke out between the Saddle Lake Warriors and St. Paul Canadiens in the second period of their North Eastern Alberta Junior ‘B’ Hockey League game. The incident ended with a confrontation between a linesman and the referee, forcing the latter to call the game.

“Unbelievable, in one word. I’ve never witnessed anything like that, a linesman hitting a referee,” said Canadiens’ head coach Hector Lafreniere. “It’s a black mark on the league. We don’t need that.”

The incident transpired near the end of the second period. It started when a Saddle Lake player hit a St. Paul player in the corner. The play continued for a few moments before eventually being called. A few players began pushing and shoving, and soon a brawl erupted involving all of the players on the ice at the time except the goalies.

Near the end of the fighting, a Saddle Lake player began punching a Canadiens’ player who was already tangled up with another Warrior. Referee Todd Pawsey shouted at linesman Calvin Cardinal to break it up, and Cardinal turned and punched Pawsey. The two pushed each other for a few seconds before Cardinal left the ice. Pawsey then called the game with 2:26 left in the second period.

“It’s very disappointing,” said NEAJBHL president Jim Keller. “Our league was making pretty big strides to clean up the league, and you get a few moments of stupidity and you lose those strides very quickly.”

The two teams got into a shouting match after their previous game in St. Paul on Dec. 3.

“It’s a long time coming,” said Warriors head coach Aaron block of the brawl, noting that the animosity was building between the two teams.

The league took disciplinary action a few days after the incident. Six players from each team received one-game suspensions, and Saddle Lake assistant coach Brady Block received five games.

“Security had to restrain him, he was hot,” said Keller of why the league suspended the coach. “That’s the biggest reason. Guys have to keep self control.”

The Warriors also received a $300 fine, and the Canadiens a $100 fine.

Cardinal also received a suspension for the rest of the season from the league. Any further disciplinary action on the officials is in the hands of the referees’ association, which is reviewing the matter.

“My gut feeling is we can’t have this happen. The referee and the linesmen need to be a unit on the ice,” said Keller. “There definitely wasn’t a full unit there.”

The Canadiens received the two-points from the game, as they led 4-2 when it was called.

[end article]

Here's a pic from it, right after Cardinal clocked Pawsey...



"Ya wanna go? Hey... ya wanna go?!???"

The look on the player faces is priceless...

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