Violence in hockey has always been a feature of the sport. Hockey, like many other sports is, beginning to turn the corner on player safety and even referee safety.
One particular incident happened this past February in Quebec when a referee was spit on by a player. The player involved in that incident, Olivier Marcotte, is now being charged with assault.
Here’s video of the incident:
The Quebec Junior AA hockey player was handcuffed on the ice by provincial police back when the incident occurred. The incident took place after Marcotte, who was playing for the Sherbrooke Hockey-Experts at the time, was ejected from the game.
Through his lawyer, Marcotte has plead not guilty.
This could set an interesting standard for future incidents if Marcotte ends up being indicted. Where is the line for player-on-player or player-on-ref behavior and will this set a standard for other leagues not tolerating even the slightest of incidents? The scope of the case is small, but the implications could be huge for other sports beyond hockey.
