Another black eye for the UHL

[Cross Traffic]

Have to give credit to Potvin and Adirondack for keeping their cool.

CP) - Two days after suspending a coach for putting a bounty on a rival player, the United Hockey League is fighting another fire - this time over a player who grabbed a coach on the opposing bench during a brawl-filled game.

On Thursday, the UHL suspended career enforcer Chad Wagner and three other members of the Danbury Trashers "until further review" for their actions in Wednesday night's game with the visiting Adirondack Frostbite.

Danbury coach Todd Sterling, son of New York Islanders coach Steve Sterling, was suspended three games "as a result of the actions of his team."

Multiple fights broke out on the ice at 7:33 of the first period, with six game misconducts handed out - including Wagner.

While Wagner was being escorted off the ice by officials, he pulled away and went at the Adirondack bench, said Frostbite coach Marc Potvin, a former NHLer.

Potvin tried to pull his players back, to keep them from answering the challenge.

"I didn't want them to react. He just came happened to come right where I was and grabbed me," Potvin told The Canadian Press on Thursday from Richmond, Va.

Potvin was on top of his bench, trying to marshall his players.

"My arms were spread out holding my players and he grabbed me by the jacket and then I got pulled down where the players stand. I had no idea whether he was swinging or not."

The Adirondack players rescued their coach and the officials managed to restore order.

"It could have got really bad," Potvin said. "Thank goodness my players showed restraint because it could have quite easily been an ESPN special. . . . Nobody punched him, nobody tried to fight him. Nobody reacted to the fans, nobody reacted to their coach, nobody reacted to the owner. We just wanted to play the game. And we're very fortunate we handled it that way. Because it would have got ugly."

As Wagner was escorted away, two other Danbury players came out of the penalty box and came at the Adirondack bench. Potvin identified them as Gerry Hickey and John Mirasty of Meadow Lake, Sask. Both were also suspended indefinitely by the league.

Dave MacIsaac was suspended indefinitely for sucker-punching an Adirondack player, breaking his nose, Potvin said.

With all the troublemakers removed, the game continued largely without incident. Danbury won 4-2.

The two teams meet again Sunday.

"Hopefully it will be a good hockey game," said Potvin, not sounding that convinced. "This isn't something new with Danbury. We play these guys 18 times this year. We've seen it all year."

Adirondack (36-15-6) has combined for 1,088 penalty minutes this season, compared to 2,217 for Danbury (43-24-4).

Wagner is no longer listed as a member of the Trashers, according to the team's website. He racked up 73 penalty minutes in his two games for Danbury, a track record which would translate into 2,920 minutes over an 80-game season.

According to the Internet Hockey Database, the 6-5, 225-pound Calgary native has accumulated 2,964 minutes - which equals two days and a long lunch - in the penalty box since joining the San Diego Gulls in 1995-96. And that's with a gap of both the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons on his resume.

Unlike Danbury, no Adirondack player was suspended by the league.

"(That's) because I have a disciplined team and that's the way they want to play," Potvin said. "It started with a simple one-on-one altercation and the rest of them came after my players."

On Tuesday, the UHL suspended Motor City Mechanics coach Steve Shannon for the rest of the season for offering his players $200 US to take out Flint general star Kevin Kerr.

Kerr had spoken out against the Mechanic signing locked-out NHL players.

[JD]

I think it's great that more and more black guys are getting into hockey.

[scritti]

i would love to see a Thugged Out war between the UHL all stars and the North American League All Stars

[MotoGoalie]

I think it's great that more and more black guys are getting into hockey.

Joe Montana doesn't appreciate that kind of candor though....

[Shoalzie]

I might have to catch one of these Federal League...errr...UHL games sometime.