'Zero tolerance for bad behaviour': Oilers, EPS warn fans ahead of series against Golden Knights

The chief of police and Oilers Entertainment Group issued a warning to Edmontonians who disrupt or harm others during watch parties in Ice District after a number of incidents during Game 6 Saturday night.

"There's some unacceptable things that happened and we need to nip that in the bud going forward," Edmonton Police Service Chief Dale McFee told reporters at Rogers Place Monday morning.

"There's gonna be zero tolerance for bad behaviour and a ton of tolerance for great behaviour and cheering," said Stu Ballantyne, president and CEO of Rogers Place and Ice District.

Videos posted to social media show several fans pushing a barricade in Ice District Plaza and a police officer shooting a man they said stabbed two people near the watch parties as the Oilers clinched the series against the Kings in Los Angeles.

McFee also confirmed police are investigating reports of a person biting people's fingers in Ice District.

"The fact that we have people pushing through barricades…a bit of unruly behaviour that makes it unsafe for others. That's not acceptable," McFee said.

"If somebody is gonna go out of their way to harm somebody, they're gonna be dealt with accordingly and rapidly, and they're gonna be held accountable.

"When I see videos of individuals being pushed down and we have a civilian employee that showed up for work and had someone with a broken ankle, that's not OK and that will be dealt with accordingly."

The Oilers are hosting a number of watch parties for home and road games during the playoffs. On Saturday, there were thousands of fans inside the arena, at the fan park to the east and the plaza to the south.

EPS will increase its presence in the area and make sure barricades are ready to handle fans during the Round 2 series against the Vegas Golden Knights, McFee said.

He said the majority of the fans were "very good" in the first round but took issue with people who caused what he deemed isolated incidents.

"If we got people that that's their main reason to come down here, back to them, those are the people who shouldn't bother coming down here," McFee said.

"There's more cameras and video in this particular area. We'll find you and don't think you can hide…if that's your nature of why you're coming down here, why don't you just not come and leave it to the people that really are here, because we're talking thousands of people who come down here for the right reasons."

The people who were stabbed Saturday night are in serious but stable condition, police said.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is investigating the police shooting.

Games 1 and 2 against the Golden Knights will be played in Vegas on Wednesday and Friday.