Crazy scene at world championship: player punches referee in the face
A crazy scene unfolded at the World's Championship: a player punched a referee in the face during a scrum!
While everyone is looking at the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs going down, another major tournament is currently happening in Czechia: the IIHF Men's World Championship.
A lot of key NHL players who aren't in the playoffs decided to represent their countries at the tournament.
Notably, fans can watch Connor Bedard, John Tavares, Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson, Cole Caufield, Brady Tkachuk and many more facing off on the ice.
A major incident happened in a recent game between Latvia and Poland in that tournament: the Latvian player Rodrigo Abols accidentaly hit a referee right in the face during a scrum.
Watch the following video to see how it went down:
After the game, Abols shared his thoughts on the incident. He said that he thought an opponent was holding him, and when he tried to get free, hit the official. He also said that he apologised to the referee, as the move was not intentional:
"I hope they can see that was not my intention."
Do you think the player would've been suspended if the incident had happened in the NHL?
Source: Blade of Steel - Player clocks official at World Championships and has instant regret
| POLL | ||
MAI 13 | 84 ANSWERS Crazy scene at world championship: player punches referee in the face Do you think the player would've been suspended if the incident had happened in the NHL? | ||
| Yes | 49 | 58.3 % |
| No | 35 | 41.7 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Jason Robertson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Chandler Stephenson | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jalen Chatfield | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mikael Granlund | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Roope Hintz | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Wyatt Johnston | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Montour | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| William Nylander | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jaden Schwartz | - | 2 | 2 | |
| John Tavares | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jamie Benn | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Evgeny Dadonov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Yanni Gourde | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Pontus Holmberg | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Fraser Minten | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ryan Poehling | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack Roslovic | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Daniel Sprong | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Hurricanes | 18 | 14 | 4 | - | 28 | |
Capitals | 18 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 27 | |
Wild | 18 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 27 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Devils | 21 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
Stars | 18 | 12 | 6 | - | 24 | |
Golden Knights | 19 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 24 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||