In a physically intense series, emotion and frustration culminated in the ejection of head coach George Gwozdecky and a record tally of 44 DU penalties as the No. 8 Pioneers battled against WCHA rival, No. 12 North Dakota last weekend.

The Fighting Sioux (15-10-3, 10-5-3) thrashed the Pioneers (15-7-3, 11-5-2) 8-3 on Friday, but Denver was able to tie Saturday’s game 2-2 in overtime despite Gwozdecky’s ejection midway through the second period.

It seemed the animosity was a spillover from last year’s very physical 5-4 and 4-1 losses by the Pioneers to North Dakota.

Gwozdecky received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as well as a game misconduct penalty in the second period of Saturday’s game.

“I’m not someone who gets very demonstrative behind the bench unless I feel it’s necessary,” Gwozdecky said later, in justifying his outburst.

DU’s Division of Athletics and Recreation released a statement yesterday saying DU does not condone Gwozdecky’s behavior during the game.

“We have discussed the incident with George, and he understands that his behavior was unacceptable,” said Ron Grahame, DU senior associate director of athletics, in the statement.

“George’s actions were very much out of character. We respect the integrity of not only the University of Denver, but the Western Collegiate Hockey Association as well,” the statement said.

The WCHA also announced it was satisfied with DU’s “serious tone” and reprimand.

WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod said he appreciates DU’s rapid response and that the league considers the matter closed.

Saturday’s action-filled game reached its climax as Gwozdecky became upset with contact between Fighting Sioux players and Pioneer players in front of Denver’s bench midway through the second period.

At the 9:30 mark, referee Campion Anderson assessed the Pioneers a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a 10-minute game misconduct and signaled Gwozdecky’s ejection from the game.

“I had a disagreement as (to) how the game was being officiated with the officials,” Gwozdecky said. “And obviously, one of the officials did not agree with me and did not agree with the way I was disagreeing with him, and so he made the decision to toss me. For reasons that have never been explained to me, he decided enough was enough, and he ejected me from the game.”

Had the official made the earlier call, the Pioneers would have had a 5-on-3 power-play opportunity, giving them a chance to take the lead.

Senior captain J.P Testwuide then proceeded across the ice near the penalty box for a lengthy discussion with the officials.

-At this point, Gwozdecky was standing on the top of the dasher boards, flailing his arms, shouting and making a choking gesture at officials.

When Testwuide returned to the bench and spoke with the coaches, Gwozdecky walked onto the ice, toward Anderson, who assessed the penalties.

Anderson is the same referee who ejected Gwozdecky from another game against the Fighting Sioux three years ago.

Gwozdecky walked in the direction of Denver’s penalty box, and many questioned whether he was heading to the box to serve the two-minute penalty himself, although rules do not allow for this. The tunnel to Denver’s locker room was directly behind Denver’s bench.

“We were astonished,” said junior Brandon Vossberg about the team’s reaction to seeing Gwozdecky on the ice. “At first we were like, ‘What is going on?’ But at the same time, we honestly thought he was going to go sit down in the penalty box.”

“I was just laughing,” said sophomore Anthony Maiani. “I thought it (Gwozdecky walking across the ice) was hilarious.”

“I may have been confused or disoriented as to where our locker room was. I was going across the ice like we normally would here when you get off the bench, because there is a gate across the ice you can get out to walk to your locker that may have been the case, or I may have wanted to walk across the ice to the officials,” Gwozdecky said.

After talking to an official, Gwozdecky left the game to a roaring approval of Fighting Sioux and a sellout crowd of 11,856 fans.

“He disagreed with the calls. So did we,” Vossberg said. “We were not happy with the officiating up until that point. Sometimes both the officials and the players and the coaches get emotional. Up until that point we hadn’t had any power-plays and after that we had a good amount of power-play opportunities.”

Following Gwozdecky’s ejection, five straight penalties were called against UND, one of which led to freshman Patrick Wiercioch’s power-play goal, which tied the game 2-2.

“It (Gwozdecky’s ejection) motivated us; it really kind of got our juices flowing and our blood pumping,” Vossberg said.

On Friday, the Fighting Sioux jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first period, but sophomore Rhett Rakhshani added Denver’s first point with three seconds remaining, cutting North Dakota’s lead to three.

After the four Fighting Sioux goals in a six-minute span, sophomore starting goaltender Marc Cheverie was pulled in favor of sophomore Lars Paulgaard.

Cheverie returned to the net in the second period to stop five of six shots, and with less than eight minutes remaining in the period, junior Tyler Ruegsegger made the game 5-1 on a power-play goal assisted by Rakhshani and Maiani.

With less than a minute remaining in the period, freshman Luke Salazar, who leads the team with 11 goals, cut the Fighting Sioux’s lead to 5-3.

However, in the third period, the Pioneers were unable to score again, while UND notched another three goals and Cheverie was replaced by Paulgaard for the second time.

In Saturday’s rematch, the Pioneers gave it their all to earn the overtime tie, outshooting the Fighting Sioux 40-25.

Eleven minutes into the first period, Maiani tied the game 1-1 after redirecting a shot from sophomore defenseman Chris Nutini just past UND’s goaltender, Brad Eidsness.

Sophomore Jesse Martin gave DU the best chance for the game winner in overtime when he rattled a wrist shot of the right post at 1:40.

“I think just our overall profoundness and how we responded from Friday night was as good of a response and as positive an outcome as you could have won,” Gwozdecky said.

Last year, the Pioneers were taken down by the Fighting Sioux and both Testwuide and Vossberg were issued one-game suspensions for their actions during brawls. Vossberg required stitches for a cut above his eye.

“I definitely wanted to redeem myself in a little way,” Vossberg said. “The opportunity never really arose. There were some possible chances. I tried to get into some faces and stuff like that. If it arose then yes, I was all for it, I definitely tried to get under their skin but it didn’t happen, so c’est la vie.”

Despite forgoing three points to the Fighting Sioux, Denver remains on top of the WCHA standings with 24 points, a mere point above North Dakota, which remains in second with 23.

The Pioneers will host University of Alaska Anchorage for a conference series in Magness Arena on Friday at 7:37 p.m. and Saturday at 7:07 p.m. Alaska is currently ranked No. 9 of 10 in the WCHA, but the Pioneers will not take the game lightly.

“Especially in the WCHA, any team can beat any team on any given night,” Vossberg said. “We’re going to come out and play our game like we know how to play, aggressive when we need to, physical when we need to.”

To watch Gwozdecky in action, visit LetsGoDU.blogspot.com.