January 10, 2010
Gwozdecky Reacts to Post-Game Brawl
CHN Staff Report
Denver coach George Gwozdecky, speaking on the Denver radio post game show Saturday night, discussed the brawl that happened after the final buzzer of his team's 3-2 win over Alaska-Anchorage at Magness Arena.
Gwozdecky, who has been disciplined for coming onto the ice to confront officials before, explained his take on the situation.
"When something happens like that, whether it's during a game, and especially at the end of a period ... everybody holds — other than the guys on the ice — and that's what was happening for the first 15 seconds," Gwozdecky said. "And all of a sudden, three of their guys race on the ice, and we're outnumbered. And I know they're not going out there to keep the peace."
Reports differ as to how many UAA players were on the ice at the time. There were five game disqualification penalties handed out, including two to Anchorage's Chris Crowell and one to Jared Tuton. Denver players involved were John Ryder and William Wrenn. According to Denver Post beat writer Mike Chambers' blog, Crowell came off the bench to get involved.
"I don't think the officials saw it," Gwozdecky said. "That's when I got on it because I wanted to make sure our guys weren't going to leave, because they were saying we were being outnumbered there. And I asked their coach (Dave Shyiak) to try to calm things down ... and he didn't want to get involved. And I understand that. I think sometimes it's very difficult for a coach to get on the ice, you get in a situation where you're not going to help your team.
"I just felt with the direction our guys have ... they knew that nobody else was coming from that bench, over my dead body, and it might have been had they gotten a punch thrown at them."
All of this happened with WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod in attendance. The players then went to the locker rooms without the traditional weekend-ending handshake.
"It was unfortunate," Gwozdecky said. "At that point I've seen too many times where a team is allowed after a scuffle where players are allowed to go through the handshake line, and then something really ugly happens. We saw that last year with North Dakota and Minnesota. So at that point, send teams off."
SiouxluthJan 11 2010, 6:50 pm
I believe the ND / UM incident was a couple years ago and not last season. I say a coach in control of his team should be able to tell them to act their age and line up for a handshake. You don't have to like it, but a team that plays you 1-1 and then 3-2 deserves your respect, no matter which side of the win/loss column you are on.
gophercreaseJan 13 2010, 10:22 am
agreed. The UND-UMN incident involved Wheeler, Finley and to an extent Stu Bickel, who came busting into the scuffle. These two incidents are slightly different, in how they occured, but I can see Gwozdecky's point. I think Denver and UAA could have handled a handshake, but it is really up to the coaches and officials to decide what is the best idea.
PCMJan 13 2010, 2:16 pm
The article says Gwozdecky "has been disciplined for coming on to the ice to confront officials." Really? When he did it during a game at North Dakota last season, he didn't receive any penalty, nor did the WCHA or DU discipline him for it. Was there some other time it happened that he was disciplined?
BooneLivesJan 13 2010, 2:56 pm
He was ejected & suspended for his behavior in the ND game last season - http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2009/01/27_denver.php
KSSIOUXJan 13 2010, 5:29 pm
PCM and BooneLives are both right on the Gwoz suspension. He was suspended for coaching from the press box, not for his on ice antics. So that is "behavior" in the game I guess. The thing that upsets folks about Gwoz is his ability to give his team a rest because the refs tend to come over and let him give a speech about what he thinks. Smart move if you can get away with it.
PCMJan 13 2010, 7:30 pm
Sorry, but BooneLives is wrong. Gwozdecky was ejected from the game at UND when he objected to a non-call. He went out on to the ice *AFTER* he was ejected from the game. He received no penalty for his stroll on to the ice to confront the officials, nor did he receive any discipline from the WCHA or DU. He was suspended for one game by DU because he was in the press box communicating with the Pioneers' bench in violation of NCAA rules. http://www.uscho.com/recaps/20082009/m/01/24/du-und.php http://www.uscho.com/news/college-
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