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Fans assault hockey official during Hamilton house league game (VIDEO)

Neate Sager

There is something about being in an arena, with sound bouncing off the wall and spectators so far removed from players that they feel they must yell to be heard, that causes likely sane folks to act like complete idiots.

The latest inexcusable instance, as reported by CBC Hamilton, came recently during a house league game in Hamilton's Rosedale Minor Hockey Association. During a Feb. 17 game that was for sky-high, life-or-death stakes — playoffs in the midget division, eh — pushing and shoving broke out on the ice. That prompted a mother and a grandparent to come on the ice; a man is seen shoving official John Tluczek. Sweet fancy Moses.

From Adam Carter:

“I've never seen anything like it,” Tluczek, a 14-year veteran referee, said.

He says tempers flared at the end of the game when he tried to restrain a player after he drove another player into the boards. “I had to jump in there and break it up,” he said. “Then all of a sudden grandpa and the mother are on the ice.”

Police were called to the arena, but no charges were laid and no one was arrested, says Const. Claus Wagner. “The complainant himself was fine with not pressing charges,” Wagner said. “They were fine with them just being spoken to.”

But Tluczek isn't okay with the incident simply falling under the radar. “The city should ban them,” he said.(CBC Hamilton

Trouble is, even with video that clearly shows the bad behaviour, that apparently hasn't happened. The story went on to add that the City of Hamilton will not say what action it took against the spectators, whose bad behaviour violated the municipality's zero-tolerance policy.

Bizarrely, the time it took to sort out of the mess spilled over into the alloted time for the next game. That led to a protest when the game was called early due to curfew.

The next game on the schedule between the Sabres and the Nordiques was pushed back by about half an hour.

Referees ended the second game early in the third period citing curfew violations, [Rosedale assocation president Dan] Rosser says. Players were told they had to get off the ice to make way for the next game, which prompted some parents to tell their kids to stay on the ice anyway, blocking the Zamboni.

That resulted in a string of suspensions for some players on the Nordiques team, effectively ending their season — something Nordiques coach Norm Jackson says is too extreme.

“The bottom line here is that this is very heavy-handed in the case of a peaceful demonstration,” Jackson said. “Now we have to plead our case in front of two representatives who were not even there.”

Let's set aside the "peaceful demonstration" folderol. Griping about having a game called early due to time constraints isn't exactly the same as protesting, random example, what Canadian mining companies are doing in Peru. That might be swallowed whole over at Prep Rally, but it's not getting past this former career house leaguer. (My old Ernestown Township bantam team considered completing half of the third period a win.) The parents should have known better and accepted the bad break.

That said, possibly letting the adults from the first incident go, while the teens from the second don't know if they can go back in arena, is wrong.

From Ben Rohrbach:

Nordiques coach Norm Jackson and parents of the affected kids took their protest to the city, but guess what? Hamilton officials won't comment on those proceedings, either.

“I have one case already where one of my kids wants to try out for high school hockey but can't, because he could be arrested if he enters a city run rink,” Jackson told CBC. “This kid has not had his meeting yet, but has already been presumed guilty -- as are the remainder of the kids that have been named.”

Let's get this straight: A man physically attacked a referee during a youth hockey game, and no charges were filed; meanwhile, a teenager peacefully protested a separate curfew shortened game, and he faces arrest if he tries out for his high school hockey team? (Prep Rally)

Wild. Meantime, while it's not like this happens every day in every rink, such incidents aren't exactly random. Who knows, the problem might have been worse 30 or 40 years ago but now it ends up on YouTube. This was supposed to be a teenage version of a rec league. How people get so out of control is just baffling.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.