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Quebec league investigates Nolan's treatment in Chicoutimi

Today's edition of the Moncton Times & Transcript reports that the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) is investigating what happened to Garden River's Ted Nolan and his Moncton Wildcats after Friday night's game in Chicoutimi.
ChicoutimiSagueneens

Today's edition of the Moncton Times & Transcript reports that the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) is investigating what happened to Garden River's Ted Nolan and his Moncton Wildcats after Friday night's game in Chicoutimi.

Sportswriter Neil Hodge, who witnessed what he described as "brutal" racial insults hurled at Nolan from a large crowd of Chicoutimi fans, says he's been advised by QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau that the incident will be investigated and a full report prepared.

Chicoutimi police were needed to ensure the Moncton team got safely to its bus.

Read SooToday.com's coverage from Saturday

Nolan and the Wildcats were well-behaved at the game and the outburst by Chicoutimi fans could not be attributed to anything that happened on the ice, Hodge says.

Security and refs let it happen

Many of the Chicoutimi troublemakers appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, and Hodge surmises that the league report might look into the role of beer vendors and hired security.

"When you have security guards laughing along with the other people doing it and the referee not doing anything about it during the game ... they were fully aware of what was happening. One of our players had a fan throw a garbage can at him," Nolan told the Times & Transcript

"I have never seen anything like that in my life," Nolan said. "There were some incidents that happened when I was a kid, but I never seen a public display like that. This was in a public forum where there's families and kids."

"Right now, you have to question whether Chicoutimi is the Alabama of the Quebec League. I hope not. It's a pretty sad state of affairs if it is."

National coverage

The story went national on Sunday night, with CTV and the Canadian Press distributing reports about the Chicoutimi incident.

In an unscientific poll that started Sunday, 80 percent of 507 SooToday.com readers who'd voted as of 7:30 p.m. Monday felt that Nolan's treatment warrants an official response from Saguenay Mayor Jean Tremblay.

Nolan also expressed concern about Chicoutimi's practice of playing a warrior song whenever its sole native player scores a goal.

Read today's coverage from Moncton

Tell Ted what you think

If you'd like to send a message of hometown support to Ted Nolan, please click here.

To share your feelings with Saguenay Mayor Jean Tremblay, click on this.


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David Helwig

About the Author: David Helwig

David Helwig's journalism career spans seven decades beginning in the 1960s. His work has been recognized with national and international awards.
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