Ugly incident

J's World/Jeremiah Bartz

Hockey is a physical sport. That part is obvious. That part I don't have a problem with.

The level of hockey normally dictates the amount of physical play within a game. As players get older, bigger and stronger, the physical nature of the sport normally becomes more prevalent in their game.

That part I don't have a problem with.

As a fan of a North American style of hockey, I appreciate the physical nature of the sport. But sometimes it gets out of hand. Things got out of hand in Wasilla's 3-1 win over the East Thunderbirds last week at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena.

Wasilla's win was marred by penalties and those who saw the game will most likely remember an ugly incident in the third period, and not anything else that happened in the contest.

Late in the third period, Wasilla forward James Elkins skated into the East goalie. After the contact, Elkins was cross-checked by a pair of East players, taken to the ice and pounded on. An East player shot the puck, hitting Elkins in the side, and two East players brought their sticks to Elkins' back and neck, cross-checking him repeatedly. Elkins is lucky he was not seriously injured.

Elkins' teammate, Wasilla forward Jordan Troisi, skated from across the ice to try to stop the melee. Troisi had to skate in to rescue Elkins, before the referees reacted.

There were 32 penalties worth 100 minutes handed out in the game and the third-period incident was the climax. With the number of penalties handed out, and two players handed misconducts for fighting in the second period, referees had to have known the game could escalate into the mess that was seen in the third period. And the referees should have reacted once it did.

Once the referees finally got involved, East's captain, Eric Davis needed to be wrestled away from Elkins and virtually took a swing at the referee. Davis had to be dragged off the ice, but mysteriously was the only East player penalized. Troisi earned a misconduct and Elkins was penalized for running into the East goaltender. And after questioning the referees action, or lack there of, Wasilla head coach Eric Troisi was asked to leave the game.

It took mere seconds for this incident to erupt. The entire incident did not last more than two minutes. But it took half that time for referees to properly react. Elkins was at fault for hitting the goaltender, but the East players are to blame for the incident and the referees are to blame for the escalation of the incident.

The Alaska School Activities Association needs to take a close look at this incident. Davis should face a significant suspension and the actions of the referees should be looked at.

In a sport, such as hockey, with a physical nature, incidents like this are a possibility. The answer is not to take that part out of the game, but react to it and react firmly. Fighting has found its place in the upper divisions of hockey, but it doesn't have a place at the prep level.

Jeremiah Bartz is the Frontiersman sports editor.