Teen goaltender charged with assault with weapon after incident during game in Ontario

A 17-year-old goaltender is facing a charge of assault with a weapon after an incident that took place at a game in Ontario in December. According to Niagara police, the goaltender allegedly hit an opponent in the head with his stick during a youth hockey tournament.

The tournament, which has not been named, took placed in Grimsby and the Town of Lincoln from December 10th to the 12th.

"During a December 10th game at the Fleming Memorial Arena a player (goalie) intentionally struck an opposing player in the head with their stick," investigators said in a media release.

Const. Phil Gavin told CBC there was a "back and forth" between the goalie and a player with the other team before the stick swing took place.

"Obviously during hockey there is some aggressive elements to it, with body contact and things like that. Those are allowable elements of the game," he said.

"But in this particular case it was believed that threshold was overstepped and it met the grounds for a criminal charge."

The player who was hit was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and has since been released. Police told CBC his helmet did what it was supposed to do and protected him from a more serious injury. The goaltender was ejected from the game and was also banned from the rest of the tournament.

"In the end it is a game and you should be able to walk away without lasting injuries," said Gavin.

"You'd hate to see a spur of the moment decision impact people's lives whether it be through injury or in this particular case, the judicial process."

The 17-year-old goaltender cannot be named due to Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Source: CBC.ca

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