A violent incident in a hockey game for players under 15 last week in Courtenay has prompted a Comox Valley RCMP investigation, and has the president of the Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association saying such incidents have no place on the ice.
Police have not released any details of their work on the case.
The association’s Al McCulloch said the incident involved a player being injured and sent to hospital for observation as a result of a high stick to the back of his head.
A video shows the player being struck after he had gone down, as well.
The player was in concussion protocol; further details of his condition were not available.
The video shows another player following him up the ice after some shoving took place and approaching him from behind with a stick raised before delivering the first blow.
“It’s an anomaly that happens in hockey once in awhile, and it shouldn’t,” McCulloch said. “It’s something that we don’t condone at Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey.”
He said he is aware a police file has been opened and added that disciplinary staff from B.C. Hockey are also looking into the incident.
McCulloch said he hopes that the injured player is “healing up.”
“At the end of the day, we want to make sure that the player is looked after and we want to make sure that the proper punishment is doled out and the proper outcome is taken care of.”
He said the incident is an an example of “a part of hockey that we’re trying to get rid of.”
“We want people to be able to enjoy the sport,” he said.
McCulloch said that an “act of aggression” like the one being looked at puts hockey in a bad light.
He said he hopes the player who caused the injury has remorse “and learns from his mistake.”
The association wants to ensure that young players like the 13- and 14-year-olds who were part of the game in question act appropriately when they use their sticks, McCulloch said.
“I wouldn’t want to be on the street and be hit with a stick, so I wouldn’t want it to happen on the ice either,” he said.
