Tuesday 24 October 2000

Hockey brawls face off

On the heels of a program to reduce violence, police ice 2 melees
LYNN MOORE
The Gazette

Less than 48 hours after Quebec's minor-hockey federation unveiled a program designed to reduce violent incidents involving players or their parents, brawls at two games in the Montreal area required police intervention.

During an on-ice brawl at a Saturday game at the Kahnawake arena, one

16-year-old hockey player suffered a fractured nose and other facial injuries. A player on the other team suffered a broken finger and another took a blow to the head that caused a cut.

One coach of the Kahnawake Mohawks, a midget B team, has been told he will be charged with assaulting a minor. And Kahnawake parents were reported to be contemplating laying formal complaints against the coaching staff of the other team, Les Canadiens de Huntingdon.

"The investigation is continuing," Chief Michael Stalk of the Kahnawake Peacekeepers said yesterday.

The name of the 22-year-old Kahnawake coach was not made public because he has not been formally arraigned. Stalk said that the crown prosecutor will review the matter and decide if a charge will be laid.

Meanwhile in Laval, a Sunday night game required the intervention of 13 police officers.

The police had to "lower the pressure" between feuding parents after a bench-clearing brawl erupted during the final minutes of a game between pee-wee level players, Laval police spokesman Guy Lajeunesse said yesterday.

Parents joined the melee involving players with the Kings of Express and Les Patriotes, he said. One woman was struck in the face by a man but she refused to press charges, Lajeunesse said.

The tension was so high that a 16-year-old referee asked police to escort him from the arena to his car "because he was afraid" of the adults, Lajeunesse said.

Yesterday, minor-hockey officials in Quebec were busy defending the integrity of their sport.

"We think this sort of (violent exchange between players or parents) should not happen in minor hockey. We are not in the pro leagues. We are there for the fun ... the sportsmanship É and the education, so kids learn to become better citizens," Guy Blondeau, head of the Federation Quebecoise de Hockey sur Glace, said in an interview.

On Friday, the federation announced a program called "Franc Jeu" (Fair Play), which is based on two videos designed to promote sportsmanship while reducing violence.

Bizarre Timing

One video addresses conflicts and violence among parents, Blondeau noted. It also deals with the pressure parents put on players by doing things like calling out suggested plays to their children or yelling at referees, he said.

"The timing (of these two brawls) is bizarre," he said.

Last night, officials at the two regional associations responsible for the four teams involved in brawls were to meet.

A disciplinary committee will review the brawl in Kahnawake and decide what action should be taken, said Francois Morrisseau, manager of the Lac St. Louis region.

Although minor-league violence attracts a lot of attention, it is rare, he insisted.

"We have over 25,000 games per year on our territory. There are over 12,000 players and over 5,000 volunteers. Over the past 10 years, there has been an average of maybe one incident per year, maximum," Morrisseau said.

Michael Stalk, Kahnawake Minor Hockey Association president, said that he isn't convinced that the local coach was responsible for the visiting player's injuries. Other players might have done the damage, he said.

"There was a fight during the game and it got ugly," he said.

Stalk said he was told that coaches from the Huntingdon team were the first to step on the ice and into the brawl.

"We're not saying two wrongs make a right ... just that it has to be investigated," he said.

"Something definitely has to be done so these kinds of incidents don't happen anywhere."