World Junior 2015: In semi-defence of Russia's Zait Paigin flinging his stick into the stands at final buzzer (VIDEO)

It is pretty impossible to defend Zait Paigin on this one, other than to point out it is neither the first nor last time that a teenage hockey player threw his stick at the final buzzer after a loss.

Here is the crux of it, though. When Canada loses the gold medal at the world junior championship, one hears ad nauseam, only after the fact of course, about how nearly inhuman pressure is put on the 18- and 19-year-old players. By no means should Paigin be exempt from any consequences for what he did in anger, but the same post-hoc principle goes for the other guys' teenage players. In a situation where Team Russia seemed to have adopted an us-against-the-world mentality and came so close to pulling off the upset in a 5-4 loss to Canada, Paigin just went over the edge.

Global News reported that two fans suffered minor injuries, but there was, contrary to what was out on Twitter, no report filed with Toronto Police Service.

Courts in Ontario have established that there's a "voluntary assumption of risk" when one sits in close proximity to the playing surface at a sports event, which waives liability for teams and promoters when, say, a fan is hit by a puck at a hockey game or a ball at a baseball game. That wouldn't necessarily extend to getting hit by a stick that was thrown over the glass in an illegal act.

That being said, if the fan who has his nose bloodied opted not to press charges, it could be moot legally. Paigin, a 19-year-old defenceman, isn't eligible for next season's world junior, although the International Ice Hockey Federation could suspend him from playing for Russia in a future world championship.

Moreover, while it's unacceptable behaviour, the point is that it has gone on it and is condoned to a certain degree as a way of releasing anger. Guelph Storm players threw sticks during the climax of their loss in the Memorial Cup final last season, but they didn't go over the low glass at the Budweiser Gardens in London, which was extremely fortunate. In this case, CTV News also astutely noted that, "a Canadian player also appears to toss his stick up in the air" in celebration. What if that player has been closer to the stands or the trajectory had been different? Just saying.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.