City officials meet to discuss Whyte Ave. violence

Mayor Stephen Mandel will be meeting Monday with Police Chief Mike Boyd and his senior staff to talk about the near-riot on Whyte Avenue over the weekend.

As many as 50,000 people hit the strip Saturday night to celebrate after the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Anaheim Mighty Ducks to clinch the Western Conference final and move on to the Stanley Cup finals.

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But the celebrations turned ugly when some people smashed store windows, knocked over phone booths and set bonfires in the middle of the street.

Mandel called the behaviour deplorable and said he doesn't want to see a repeat during the Stanley Cup finals.

"I think our police have done a fantastic job but crowd control is a delicate thing and they were doing all that they could," Mandel said. "But when you get people that have come out, drinking too much [it's] not a pretty sight, [it's] not something we're going to tolerate."

The mayor said most of the trouble happened after 1 a.m. Sunday. Police moved in at about 3 a.m. to move the crowd off the streets.

Despite the damage, there were no reports of any serious injuries. More than a dozen people were arrested.