.Erik Biever wrote:
>
> Nathan Eric Hampton writes:
>
> > Only one (Woog) has been
> > suspended by the WCHA for punching a referee during the WCHA playoffs.
>
> This allegation should be either substantiated or publicly retracted.
>
> -- Erik
>
> HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
> [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.
 
The M on the jersey stands for Moron, if people are this stupid. Did
Woog publically retract his accusation towards Savage during the
Michigan Tech series?
Carol White was right: the suspension was for a "shove" but that was a
polite way to put what I saw. From the upper deck of the Bradley Center
with a mob of players, nothing was crystal clear, but it looked like a
punch to me. Except the short, bald guy hit the ref in the sholder, so
they called it a shove. But in Minnesota, if you just shove an official,
you are not only a good coach but a nice guy.
 
Here is one PUBLICALLY AVAILABLE account of the incident:
 
 
HEADLINE: U'S WOOG LOSES HIS COOL,
SUSPENDED
 
 
Saturday, March 9, 1996
Section: Sports
Page: 5G
 
BYLINE: Gregg Wong, Staff Writer
 
TEXT: Gophers coach Doug Woog's confrontation with officials after
Friday's victory over Wisconsin earned him a rare suspension from
coaching in tonight's WCHA Final Five title game against Michigan Tech.
 
Woog was upset with the officials throughout his team's 4-3 overtime
victory over Wisconsin, notably after referee Don Adam's quick whistle
cost the Gophers a goal when they trailed 2-1 in the second period.
 
But after the game, Woog lost his cool.
 
When he joined his players on the ice in the postgame celebration, Woog
appeared to give officials the choke sign and swore at them. He also
apparently made a hand gesture to some Wisconsin fans.
 
Then, when the players were taunted by some of those fans near the
sideboards and a few players banged their sticks on the glass at the
fans, referee Mike Schmitt tried to get the players away from the area.
 
At that point, Woog apparently pushed Schmitt away. It was that which
probably earned Woog the suspension, although league officials only
would say the suspension was for ``inappropriate behavior.''
 
Officials at the time gave Woog a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike
conduct.
 
The suspension was announced by WCHA Commissioner Bruce McLeod in
consultation with the tournament committee.
 
McLeod said the suspension was for ``more than one incident, language
and other incidents. In my mind, it was pretty clear cut.''
 
Gophers athletic director Mark Dienhart agreed with the suspension, the
first for a WCHA coach in recent memory, McLeod said.
``... Doug was dead wrong at the end of the game in the way he expressed
his disappointment to the officials,'' said Dienhart, a member of the
tournament committee but who was not involved in the decision process.
 
 
And there is a more sugar-coated version, but it mentions punching so
many times that I think they are protesting too much.
 
HEADLINE: SUSPENSION OF WOOG IS A
PENALTY THAT DOESN'T FIT THE CRIME
 
 
Sunday, March 10, 1996
Section: Sports
Page: 10C
 
BYLINE: Bob Sansevere, Staff Columnist
 
TEXT:
....
The tournament committee for the WCHA Final Five decided Friday night
that Wooger had been a bad boy. So, while his team played Michigan Tech
in the championship game Saturday night, Woog was up in the stands, away
from it all, serving a one-game suspension for what the committee termed
``inappropriate behavior.''
....
 
Here's the heinous crimes Woog committed to get banished from the bench:
After the Gophers' 4-3 overtime victory over Wisconsin on Friday
afternoon, he put his hand up near his throat and gave the universal
sign for choke artist to the referee who disallowed a Gophers goal.
Then, when another ref tried to break up his team's on-ice celebration,
Woog brushed him aside and said, `Get the ---- away.''
 
The committee was right. Woog was inappropriate. But the committee was
wrong, too. The punishment was excessive. Woog didn't throw a chair, a
punch or even a tantrum. He shouldn't have been suspended, especially
from a championship game that had NCAA tournament implications for both
the Gophers and Michigan Tech.
 
Could it be that Woog's reputation for ref-baiting and all his previous
run-ins with officials had a cumulative impact on the decision to
suspend him? Why, just last week during a Western Collegiate Hockey
Association playoff against Alaska Anchorage, Woog showed up officials
by going on the ice with five seconds to play to break up a fight.
....
 
What did influence McLeod? A choke sign? An obscenity? Surely, other
coaches have given a choke sign and used obscenities. And none had ever
been suspended from a WCHA game.
``It was a combination of action and language, a combination of
circumstances,'' McLeod said.
....
 
It would be one thing if Woog took a swing at a ref. Then it would be OK
to tie a noose around his neck and drag him behind a Zamboni. But he
didn't hit anyone. OK, he might have brushed a ref out of the way, but
even McLeod said, ``I wouldn't characterized it as a punch, that's for
sure.''
 
Speaking of characterizing, this was Woog's telling of what happened
when he made eye contact with the ref who waved off a goal: ``I didn't
give the actual choke sign. I patted my chest. I didn't actually give
the choke sign. I was kind of not happy with what he did. I didn't put
my hands under my throat. I don't know what I was thinking.''
 
.... When referee Mike Schmitt tried breaking up the
celebration, Woog got between Schmitt and the players and pushed them
apart....Woog believed Schmitt had no business interfering....
``When's the last time you invited a ref to a celebration party?'' Woog
asked.``When you don't want somebody there, what do you do? You tell
them not to be
there....''
 
 
I DIDN'T GIVE THE ACTUAL CHOKE SIGN. I PATTED MY CHEST. Does anyone
believe that statement? Poor guy, I don't think he is ABLE to tell the
truth. The McAlpine incident is proof of that.
 
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