The incident occurred on Sunday during a game between the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Knights and the South Shore Kings of the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL). A player, that the league has chosen not to identify, was involved in a serious altercation with an on-ice official.
Safe to say, I don’t think he liked what the ref said to him 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/zJUe61SMUT
— Justin (McLovin) (@tarpsoffmclovin) February 20, 2022
During the course of the play one of the linesmen was unable to get out of the way of the unnamed player. It appears the player intentionally extended his collision with the referee, and added an extra bump at the end, but that’s up for interpretation.
The USPHL quickly rendered a verdict, administering a lifetime ban for the player.
Regarding the incident that took place today, where an on-ice official was struck by a player, Commissioner Bob Turow has issued the following statement:
“The action taken today by a USPHL player is completely unacceptable in the USPHL. The USPHL has zero tolerance for any player striking any official, at any time. The player in question’s actions have led to a lifetime ban. The incident is currently being investigated by local authorities and as such the USPHL will have no further comments at this time.”
Statement From USPHL Commissioner.
“The action taken today by a USPHL player is completely unacceptable in the USPHL. The USPHL has zero tolerance for any player striking any official, at any time. The player in question’s actions have led to a lifetime ban.
Continued: pic.twitter.com/FFhG4uYWMl— USPHL (@USPHL) February 20, 2022
Regardless of how the incident was initiated and what was said between the player and the referee, it’s safe to say you can’t sucker-punch an official.
By Jon Sorensen
Call me crazy, but I don’t think you can do that.
That’s basically an assault.
Punched a lot harder the Juwan Howard.
Assault and battery charges are definitely warranted. It is about time that excessive violence in hockey should be addressed seriously by the courts.
Yes, I totally agree. We should also let the courts decide offsides plays and goal reviews. Let’s just have a bunch of attorneys decide how sports are conducted! Great idea!
This last comment is just rediculous. The game gets called on the ice, but that is assault. Especially when it is an official. hope the kid is arrested and charged.
I was being facetious to prove a point, but I think it fell flat.
A lifetime ban by the USPHL Commissioner doesn’t mean much. So the player doesn’t play for one more year. The player can still play in all of the other leagues because the USPHL is not sanction by USAHockey. Unless USAHockey bans the player he can play anywhere wants other than the USPHL. The level of fighting at the Junior level of the USPHL is ridiculous. They claim to follow NCAA rules but I watch the whole season and they didn’t fallow the NCAA rules. The USPHL needs to get with the times and be sanctioned by USAHockey. So one of you Junior divisions didn’t get Tier 2. Who really cares when you have players acting like this.