EVERETT – The fallout from Sunday’s tunnel incident between the Everett Silvertips and the Kamloops Blazers was handed down by the Western Hockey League on Wednesday, and it was news the Blazers didn’t want to hear.
Kamloops right wing Rick Kozak was given a 15-game suspension and the Blazers were fined $1,000 as a result of an altercation outside the locker rooms that left Everett trainer Bob Hamre needing six stitches in his cheek.
“I haven’t talked really closely to Bob about it,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “I know there was an incident under the bench that happened, the league checked into it and handed down a suspension, and we’ll accept what the league did.”
With 2 minutes, 43 seconds remaining in Sunday’s game at Kamloops, which Everett won 3-0, Kozak was ejected because of a misconduct penalty. At the same time Everett defenseman Cody Thoring was being escorted back to the Silvertips locker room by Hamre after sustaining an injury during the fracas.
Kozak and Hamre crossed paths in the tunnel behind the benches and an altercation ensued, with Kozak punching Hamre in the face.
Kozak told the Kamloops Daily News: “I was going to the dressing room and someone uttered some comments about how the Kamloops Blazers are a joke and shouldn’t be in this league. I took offense to that and defended the organization and the team. There were some punches thrown and that was about it. I know I threw punches, I don’t know if he did. I know the trainer put his arms up and I thought he was throwing punches. So I reacted to that.”
Kozak said he was “almost positive” that the initial comments were made by Hamre. Hamre was not available for comment.
The $1,000 fine was assessed for having inadequate security in the area between the teams’ locker rooms.
“The league has done their due dilligence,” Everett general manager Doug Soetaert said. “They’ve looked at both sides, they’ve seen all the reports, they spoke to all the parties involved and they’ve made a ruling. We’ll live with what the league has decided to do. I just feel it’s an unfortunate thing that happened. Those things do happen occasionally. You don’t frown against anybody, life goes on and you keep on moving. We’ll live with what the league has ruled and we feel very comfortable with that.”
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