On ice, call refs before calling cops

Safety column

By KIMBERLY EDDS / The Orange County Register

Q. Is there anything the police can do about a fight that breaks out during an amateur hockey game?

A. The cops aren't the ones wearing the black and white stripes because they aren't getting paid $25 bucks a game to listen to a bunch of crybabies whine about a missed call or a cheap shot. And there's a reason refs aren't issued a badge and a gun. They are supposed to be dealing with players, not criminals armed with giant sticks.

Hockey players- and fans - like fights as much as a fat kid likes cake. But even our Molson-chugging neighbors to the north have limits to what's acceptable when the fists are flying on the ice.

Taking a two-fisted swing with your stick at someone's head isn't a fight. It's an assault, and swinging your hockey stick around like some kind of whacked-out samurai can land you behind bars - or at least on probation and on the bench for a really long time. Ring up NHL goon Marty McSorley, and he'll fill you in.

Sometimes, it's a little more complicated to figure out when that holy line that separates down-and-dirty hockey from something criminal has been crossed.

Sports fan or not, Johnny Law isn't going to be too keen about showing up at the rink to play Judge Judy. Frankly, the blue suits would prefer if the refs could just keep every under control before it boils over, said Sgt. Tom Bruce of the Cypress Police Department. But the laws of the land apply on the ice, too, to make sure everyone follows the rules.

Sure, the refs will call a few slashing penalties, a few for boarding and a couple for high sticking. But I sure wouldn't be risking life and limb to break up a bench-clearing hockey brawl for $25 bucks. And if it gets to a point where the refs are out of their league, they'll call the cops to sort out the mayhem.

Figuring out who did what to who and why could take a while as the cops interview the rink staff, the fans - if there are any - and the wannabe Chuck Lidells.

And it's not just the boys who have anger issues. Police in Moose Lake, Minn. - yep, Moose Lake - have opened a criminal investigation into whether misdemeanor assault charges should be filed against several high school girl hockey players who attacked a 15-year-old girl during the final seconds of a game in February, leaving the girl temporarily paralyzed. The case is still open.

"It's a touchy area," Bruce said. "Hockey is a full-contact sport. Where do you draw the line between full contact and criminal intent?"

Ending up at county instead of the penalty box is going to hit you a whole lot harder in the pocketbook. And you aren't going to have a hockey stick to defend yourself.



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