Perhaps some thought the animosity between the Pontiacs and the Storm that had built up through last season's games might have faded with a new head coach in Grande Prairie this season. However, that was clearly not the case, as the teams engaged in two heated affairs this past weekend that ended with one conspicuous incident.
After two open-ice hits on Storm players in which no penalties were called and being down 6-3 late in Saturday's game, Grande Prairie's frustration level appeared to be on the rise.
Things boiled over in the final moments of the game, when a Storm player was deliberately sent on the ice to engage in a fight with a Pontiac, explained Bonnyville's head coach Chad Mercier.
“It was a chicken-shit move,” said Mercier. “They didn't even dress the kid (the night before), then they try to send him out before the draw twice, near the end of the game, but were too late. They finally get him out there with one purpose, with nine seconds left and all he does is try to hurt our guy.”
The Storm player in question, 18-year-old rookie Scott Nordstrom, received a five-minute fighting major, a 10-minute misconduct and a two-minute instigator penalty for jumping unsuspecting Pontiacs forward Dillon Currie, who wasn't injured but received a roughing penalty for almost getting his gloves off in the melee.
The league will likely take a closer look at the incident.
“We've got guys that could do that, and you don't see us pulling that stuff,” Mercier said. “That's the kind of thing that needs to be out of this game.”
