Say Anything Blog

Last Saturday night, Denver Universities coach was ejected from the game versus the University of North Dakota.  Rather than leave the bench area he decided to walk out out on the ice and try to talk to one of the officials. 

This is unprecedented.  Not only have I not seen this, nobody I’ve heard of has seen it. 

Remember now, Gwozdecky had already been thrown out of the game and a bench minor had been assessed.  The fact that there was no further penalties in the game for his antics was appalling.  What’s worse is that the WCHA has declined to suspend Gwozdecky for his childish temper tantrum.

The league just issued a statement saying that it was satisfied with the public statement Denver issued earlier in the day, reprimanding the coach for his behavior.

So what was in this hard hitting statement?  Well here it is:

DENVER – The University of Denver does not condone the actions of head hockey coach George Gwozdecky at the 9:30 mark of the second period during the Pioneers’ 2-2 overtime tie against North Dakota on Saturday, Jan. 24 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Gwozdecky received a two-minute unsportsmanlike misconduct and 10-minute game misconduct penalty because of his actions.
“We have discussed the incident with George, and he understands that his behavior was unacceptable,” DU Senior Associate Director of Athletics Ron Grahame said. “George’s action were very much out of character. We respect the integrity of not only the University of Denver, but the Western Collegiate Hockey Association as well.”

That’s it, they spoke to him. 

The statement says the school respects the integrity of the WCHA.  How can they respect what doesn’t exist? The WCHA is the best league in college hockey, but it by far has the worst personnel running the league office.  They have zero integrity and zero respect for the players and the game.

Last year there was an incident involving our coach at North Dakota.  The school took the matter seriously and suspended our coach for two games coordinating their punishment with the league. 

It makes no sense that they just let this guy walk.  Does this create the precedent that a coach can walk out on the ice during a game at any time? 

Apparently.