A Nelson junior hockey coach accused a visiting Kamloops player of racially taunting one of his team members during a Kootenay International Junior Hockey League game Saturday.

After the Leafs含羞草研究社� 4-2 win over the Kamloops Storm, assistant coach Adam DiBella was furious with what he said had been insensitive remarks toward a player throughout the game.

含羞草研究社淪ometimes winning a game is more than just two points,含羞草研究社� said DiBella.

含羞草研究社淲hen there is awful, racial language being directed toward our bench from their players 含羞草研究社� it just makes you want to get the win even more. Quite honestly, there含羞草研究社檚 not a lot of place, not even in the game but in society, for anything like that.含羞草研究社�

DiBella declined to name the players involved. He said he complained to the officiating crew during the game, but nothing came of it.

含羞草研究社淚 don含羞草研究社檛 blame the refs one bit,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淭hey told me they含羞草研究社檇 look out for it, but they can含羞草研究社檛 make a call they didn含羞草研究社檛 hear.含羞草研究社�

Storm head coach Steve Gainey said he heard nothing from the officials and thought there may have been a misunderstanding.

含羞草研究社淥ne of the things that came out was he said, 含羞草研究社榃e含羞草研究社檙e back, baby含羞草研究社� and the kid took it as 含羞草研究社榃e black, baby.含羞草研究社� So I think there含羞草研究社檚 a place where the kid might be a little sensitive and maybe had it happen in the past, which is understandable,含羞草研究社� said Gainey.

含羞草研究社淲e looked at it on the bench right away as soon as it came up, because it is obviously something that we would take really seriously within our own organization. So that was the response we got and it was kind of the end of it on our end. 含羞草研究社� Nobody in our group, when I challenged the situation, said anything like that came out.含羞草研究社�

Both DiBella and Gainey were tossed from the game late in the third period.

The next day, Gainey told Kamloops This Week that Leafs players surrounded the Storm含羞草研究社檚 bus with five cars after the game.

含羞草研究社淭here was just a lot of continued emotion carried forward from the game from them, in their excitement to win and our frustration in the loss, having gone through a real emotional game on the ice with the amount of drama that we含羞草研究社檙e talking about,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淔or it to carry off the ice was a challenging thing for our boys to deal with.含羞草研究社�

Leafs head coach Mario DiBella told the Star his players did not surround the Storm含羞草研究社檚 bus and Gainey was not telling the truth.

含羞草研究社淭hat含羞草研究社檚 a poor excuse for bad conduct by their coaching staff,含羞草研究社� said DiBella.

Cole Wyatt scored twice, Shawn Campbell and Reid Wilson had singles and Anderson Violette made 18 saves for the Leafs (11-2-3), who won their 11th straight game.

Chris Thon scored twice for the Storm (4-12-1), who lost for the seventh consecutive contest. Goaltender Ethan Paulin-Hatch stopped 22 shots for Kamloops.

含羞草研究社� With files from Kamloops This Week reporter Marty Hastings

tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter