The Coquitlam Adanacs lead the Minto Cup final over the Brampton Excelsiors 1-0, but whether the teams will be able to continue their best-of-five series was still unknown as of early Thursday afternoon.
The Junior A national championship was derailed when Wednesday’s second game was abruptly cancelled after officials refused to take the floor at Calgary’s Max Bell Arena.
The tournament’s convenor, Ron McQuarrie, told Sportsnet 650 radio Thursday morning the officials were upset because an appeals committee had elected to overturn a three-game suspension to the Guardian’s star player, Jeff Teat. That suspension was a consequence of a match penalties assessed to Teat and Brampton’s coach, Dan Teat, for verbal abuse of an official in the dying seconds of Tuesday’s series opener that was won by the Adanacs, 11-9.
According to Canadian Lacrosse Association rules, the match penalties come with a mandatory minimum three-game suspension and the referee’s call can’t be appealed. But McQuarrie said Brampton challenged the application of the rule, and while the coach’s suspension was upheld, the player was cleared to start Wednesday’s game just five minutes before the scheduled opening faceoff. That prompted the refs assigned to work the game to stay in their dressing room.
Adanacs’ coach Pat Coyle said Thursday morning he had no idea whether the series could continue.
“There’s a bit of an impasse with the refs,” he told The Tri-City News. “There’s a real potential this could get cancelled.”
Coyle said his team was on the floor, warmed up and ready to play Wednesday’s game when the plug was pulled. He said his players are trying to stay focused and they’re going through their preparation as if there will be more games to play.
“We’re focussing on what is in our control,” he said.
McQuarrie said talks are continuing to get the Minto Cup back on the rails.
“We have some things to work through,” he said. “We’re looking for short term solutions to the Minto Cup completed.”
Coyle said he hopes those negotiations bear fruit.
“The players, the coaches, there’s so many people involved with this, and it would break a lot of guy’s hearts if this didn’t go ahead,” he said. “This is their last opportunity at this chance.”
A post on the Minto Cup’s Twitter feed promised a decision on rescheduling Wednesday’s game would be made by 3 p.m. Mountain Time Thursday. McQuarrie said he was confident the game would happen.
“We’re always going optimistic,” he said.
