GREATER SUDBURY, Ont. — No word yet from the ECHL on any discipline being handed out as the result of an off-ice altercation between two players before Sunday’s game between the Newfoundland Growlers and the Brampton Beast in Brampton, Ont.
But you can bet there is some coming.
The scrap between Growlers’ captain James Melindy and Beast veteran Mike Folkes occurred near the end of the pre-game warm-up skate, but the action took place just outside the Brampton dressing room.
If the game had been at Mile One Centre in St. John’s, the fight would have probably been unseen by fans. That’s because the dressing rooms are under the Mile One stands. But at the CAA Centre in Brampton, the space between the dressing rooms and the gates leading from the ice is in open view of a portion of the bleachers.
That meant the incident, which eventually saw the two defencemen exchanging punches just inside the entrance to the Beast dressing room, was captured in video which has since been posted on social media.
WARNING: Video contains language that may offend some viewers.
Mike Folkes and James Melindy going at it after warmups prior to today’s Beast / Growlers tilt. Should be a good one! @spittinchiclets @TSNHockey @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/7iaW0MS2XA
— Michael Lange (@Michael_J_Lange) February 24, 2019
The incident has already made it to the Barstool Sports, the popular online blog that dedicates much of its space to the wild and outrageous in the world of athletics.
As of yet, there is no indication of what might have precipitated the fight, although the league will probably be reviewing any video of the pre-game warm-up. Normally, a video camera is directed at the ice during the warm-up skate in order to record any incidents, especially since no referees or linesmen are on the ice during that time.
Neither Melindy, who leads the Growlers in penalty minutes with 136, or Folkes, who has 26 PIMs in 23 games, played in the game, which Newfoundland won 4-1. That meant both teams used just 15 skaters, one below the norm.
There were a total of nine minor penalties in the game — seven to the Growlers — and no fights.
Melindy has already served a five-game league suspension, imposed on him earlier this season for leaving the bench to become involved in an on-ice fight in a New Year’s Eve game in Glens Falls, N.Y., against the Adirondack Thunder.
The Beast are the most frequent opponents of the Growlers during Newfoundland’s inaugural ECHL season. In all, the two teams will meet 13 times, consisting almost entirely of back-to-back games, as was the case this past weekend. The teams had also played on Saturday, when the Growlers prevailed 4-3.
And as it happens, their season series will wrap up this coming Friday and Saturday at Mile One.
Don’t count on Melindy or Folkes dressing for the games.
