15-year-old official recovering after getting assaulted during game

A 15-year-old linesman is recovering after being attacked by a player during a game in Quebec this past weekend.

The player, competing for the Sherbrooke Phoenix U18 team, lost it after being ejected from a game versus the Dynamik de Coaticook.

A rinkside video capturing the scene shows the culprit getting physical with the teenage linesman, to the point that his own goalie comes in to try and intervene. It seemed for a second cooler heads prevailed as the player looked to be heading off the ice, before quickly charging back at the linesman once again and punching him in the face.

Coaticook Minor Hockey Association’s president Philippe Laprise was stunned by what he had witnessed, describing the incident to the CBC as a “very serious and unequivocal assault.” He went on to mention that the linesman is doing okay thanks to his visor protecting him from the punch thrown his way.

Laprise said that the player, whose name hasn’t been released, will be suspended for the remainder of the season at minimum, and could face even harsher punishment if the league finds any past incidents similar to this.

“A suspension is all well and good but if we don’t help and we don’t supervise it, it could happen again at any time,” Laprise said.

Jean-Francois Lapointe, who is the chief referee for Hockey Estrie, says this isn’t the first time this has happened. According to him, there was a similar incident during the 2019-20 season in which an official was hit by a player. He agrees with the league that the player needs to pay the consequence for his actions.

“When I saw the video, I’m not going to lie, I was a little discouraged to see a player attacking an official, and even worse in this case, a young official who’s 15-years-old,” Lapointe said.

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