An entertaining series could have an extra edge Wednesday.
During a melee Sunday at the end of Game 2 of the Calder Cup Finals, which is tied 1-1, Wolves forward Curtis McKenzie repeatedly punched the Checkers’ Steven Lorentz while Lorentz was down on the ice. McKenzie picked up 27 minutes of penalties, including separate game misconducts for being the aggressor and instigating in the last five minutes.
The fracas also included a cross-check from the Checkers’ Patrick Brown, plus a misconduct to Brown and teammate Trevor Carrick. The Wolves’ Keegan Kolesar also got a misconduct.
On Tuesday, the AHL suspended McKenzie for Game 3 on Wednesday at Allstate Arena. Lorentz skated in practice.
The scrum also sparked a back-and-forth between Wolves coach Rocky Thompson and his counterpart, Mike Vellucci. After the game, Vellucci told reporters he was hoping “somebody takes care of what he’s supposed to do from the league standpoint” and called McKenzie’s actions “bush league.”
“I used to have respect for a guy that played 100 games in the NHL, but he hit a defenseless player four or five times,” Vellucci said. “I just watched the video. He hit him four or five times when he was on the ice. There’s a code in hockey, and he should know it and everybody knows it.”
Thompson responded Tuesday. He said he was “really upset” with Vellucci’s comments and strongly implied Brown’s cross-check started everything.
“He’s saying it was a dirty act on a defenseless player. That’s what started the whole melee,” Thompson told reporters. “They won the game. The game was over. We pulled our goalie to try and win. Tip our hats to them. They did a good job. They played a really good game, then one of their players hit our player from behind on a dirty play. That’s defenseless.”
As he spoke, the brawler from Thompson’s days as a player crept out.
“The problem was they picked on the wrong guys,” Thompson said. “As a result, one of their players got hurt. In that situation, who started it makes a point. If their coach has a problem with it, he can walk down the hall and talk to me and not talk to the players. I’m not going after their players, so don’t go after mine. It’s an issue with me.”
Regardless, the Wolves’ issue is playing without McKenzie, who has eight postseason goals and is in his third Finals.
Forward Stefan Matteau knows McKenzie’s value but remembers that the Wolves have survived player absences.
“I think the strength of our team is the team itself,” Matteau said. “We play such a good team game, and when everyone’s on board and everyone’s 100 percent, we’re pretty hard to play against.”
