Two AJHL netminders dropped the gloves and traded blows during a recent game between the Grande Prairie Storm and the Drumheller Dragons.
The old-fashioned goalie fight saw Dragons tendie Sean Cootes and Storm first liner Nicholas Jones exit their cages to meet mid-ice during a full line brawl between the two squads while the Dragons looked to take advantage of their powerplay late in the third on October 25th.
Storm Head Coach Chris Schmidt explains the game saw numerous battles throughout all three periods, leading to tensions boiling over and ultimately resulting in the historic fight between the two goalies.
“It was hopefully one and done on our goalie’s part, but you know it sometimes happens and I’m just kind of moving on,” he says. “It was an intense game, I think both teams were working hard, there were a couple of fights that started honestly from guys just working, and I think that was just a byproduct of it.”
“Obviously we’re not looking for our goalies to fight every game, so hopefully that’s the last one we have for quite some time.”
Assistant Coach and longtime goalie trainer Brandon Wells looked at the brawl a bit differently. He says goalie fights are few and far between in today’s game, and adds that Jones’ suspension will serve as a good chance for GP Storm newbie Keagin Kelln to prove himself as an AJHL goalie.
“You don’t see goalie fights very often anymore so I thought it was good, the team kind of got around it and everyone was excited about it,” he says. “This is also a good opportunity for Keagin to come in here for the next three games while Jonesy is suspended and prove that he can be a good goaltender in this league.”
Both goalies were suspended for three games as a result of being assessed for Fighting Majors on top of Game Misconducts related to the battle in Bonnetts Energy Centre.
