University of Denver hockey coach George Gwozdecky will not be suspended for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Saturday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., but was reprimanded Monday by Denver school officials.
The dean of Western Collegiate Hockey Association coaches wasn't happy with a hit by North Dakota's Chris VandeVelde on Denver's Tyler Ruegsegger in the second period of a 1-1 game against North Dakota. Gwozdecky told referees Todd Anderson and Jon Campion about his displeasure and received the minor penalty and a 10-minute game misconduct ejection, and then walked onto the ice to make his point before exiting the bench.
First-place Denver and second-place North Dakota tied 2-2 in overtime. The night before, in an 8-3 North Dakota win, the teams combined for 41 penalties and 114 penalty minutes.
Denver's news release from school senior associate athletic director Ron Grahame read, in part: "The University of Denver does not condone the actions of coach George Gwozdecky. We have discussed the incident with George and he understands his behavior was unacceptable. George's actions were very much out of character."
Gwozdecky, a native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, is in his 15th season at Denver and 23rd season overall as a head coach with a record of 488-336-65.
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Denver will play at Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 6-7.
