U.S., Canadian women hockey players in brawl
The United States Women's Hockey team gets in a fight with the Canadian Women's Hockey team during a pre-Olympic exhibition game in Grand Forks, N.D. (Dec. 20, 2013) Credit: YouTube
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The macho men of the Rangers and Islanders aren't the only players who get into fights.
Jocelyne Lamoureux took exception to Brianne Jenner's late run at Josephine Pucci, setting off another fiery round Friday night in the U.S. women's hockey team's rivalry with Canada.
Lamoureux nailed Jenner with an illegal bodycheck and, seconds later, Lamoureux, sister Monique and U.S. teammates Hilary Knight, Gigi Marvin and Kacey Bellamy were brawling with Canada's Jenner, Melodie Daoust, Jocelyne Larocque, Meaghan Mikkelson and Vicki Bendus.
"I think we came in and defended our teammates, did what we had to do," Jocelyne Lamoureux, a former University of North Dakota star playing in her home rink, said after the USA's 4-1 victory in a pre-Olympic game.
"It's always going to be heated [against Canada]. The intensity is always going to be there."
The referees handed out 10 fighting majors and a string of other infractions after the melee with nine seconds to play. The teams also fought in October late in a game in Burlington, Vt., with all 10 skaters squaring off late in the third period.
They had another big scrap in 2010.
"I'm not a proponent of fighting in hockey, but I am a proponent of standing up for yourself," U.S. coach Katey Stone said. "We will not be pushed around."
The Lamoureux sisters, Knight and Brianna Decker scored for the Americans.
Emotions began boiling over midway through the third period after a pair of roughing penalties against Decker and Canada's Meghan Acosta-Marciano.
"We're prepared to play whatever game we have to play," Stone said. "We'll go hard, we'll play clean, but if the game gets out of hand, we'll manage that as well."
Young girls in the crowd cheered wildly as Lamoureux was led to the penalty box. The Grand Forks native recalled watching as a youngster when the U.S. women's team played a game at the arena before the 2002 Olympics.
"I remember thinking, this is where I want to be and this is what I want to do," Jocelyne Lamoureux said. "So if I can do that for someone else and our team can be an inspiration for some of these little girls that came out here tonight, then that's pretty cool."
Kevin Dineen, fired last month as coach of the NHL's Florida Panthers, directed the Canadian team for the first time. He took over for Dan Church, who resigned Dec. 12, hours before the two teams met in Calgary, Alberta. Church had said he felt others lacked confidence in his ability to lead the country to a fourth straight gold medal.
