Criminal Charges for Illegal Hits/Strikes During Game

[something]

So I thought I would open up discussion on illegal hits during hockey games.

Last night, with the hit on Sean Monahan, I recoiled in disgust. My gut reaction was "****, that was an assault!" I wanted retribution. Badly.

My instinct was to look to see if an "enforcer" was coming in to demonstrate that these acts would not be tolerated. Then I was anticipating a five minute penalty for the hit, and a game misconduct. Nothing came from it, aside from a meagre two minute penalty. I was furious. I don't think I would have cared any less had this been a hit on a Stars player, coming from the Flames.

Some proponents of this type of hockey might argue that it is integral to the sport. That the players these days aren't tough enough and that they should stand up for themselves when something like this occurs. I simply disagree.

An arrest warrant was issued recently for a player who had deliberately attacked another on the ice in some European league. Although these situations are differently, I remember asking last night if the hit on Monahan should be criminally reprehensible? All the traditional methods of enforcement, in my opinion are pretty weak, and allow players to be vulnerable to deplorable violence. Cooke on Crosby could be another example. When the penalty for delivering an illegal hit is usually nothing greater then a few-game suspension, why not deliver that potentially disastrous hit on the star player of another team to help your own out?

Now don't get me wrong; I have no concern with players being physical. What concerns me is deliberate violence. A butt of a stick to the head at the speed and force it was delivered last night can change anyone, for life. It is lucky that Sean got up from that with little to no injury.

Furthermore, had there been blood, it would have qualified for a double-length penalty. The officiating seems more concerned with consequence than intent. The concern here is that officiating, if given authority to penalize for intent, could become manipulable and questionable (more so than it currently is).

One last idea I want to introduce is the concept of voluntary assumption of risk. As a legal principle, it states that players who engage in sport are assumed to be aware that they are liable to injuries that exceed what would normally occur in one's life. Any injuries that arise from regular conduct during the game are a consequence of an inherently risky engagement and therefore occur without punishment. This does not, however, cover malicious and deliberate attempts to injure.

Wrapping this up, what do you guys think? Should these acts be condemnable through criminal courts? Should the player who delivered the hit to Sean Monahan be issued an arrest warrant?

Edit:

And to refocus the conversation, the message in my OP is not necessarily that criminality be the ideal avenue to enforce rules on the ice, but that current enforcement methods fall short of preventing some over-the-top, egregious acts that are both malicious and deliberate.

Applying this to the incident last night, we need not pursue criminal charges against Ritchie, but what other enforcement methods can be invoked to prevent such dirty plays?

[Cali Panthers Fan]

No.

[ComixZone]

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by something

Should the player who delivered the hit to Sean Monahan be issued an arrest warrant?

No. Its a dirty play, but that's the last thing anyone should want to happen is to have charges laid for acts like that.

If you go chopping at some guy in warm up when he's not even looking... sure... charge the guy. But the Monahan play didn't come close to that level.

[Lord Carnage]

Not even in the slightest...

[something]

Reasons, guys?

What do you think of the player who is being criminally charged for hit slash and smash to the player in the European league?

[calumniate]

Are you from Montreal?

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Nope. As bad a hit as it was, the Ritchie situation is not comparable to the one in Sweden, which I would agree is worthy of criminal assault charges. (The game hadn't started!)
I don't like the way officiating seems to concern itself with the consequences rather than the intent, but either way, if it is in the context of the game (Monahan and Ritchie were going after a puck), in no way do I think a criminal investigation is warranted.

[something]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

Nope. As bad a hit as it was, the Ritchie situation is not comparable to the one in Sweden, which I would agree is worthy of criminal assault charges. (The game hadn't started!)
I don't like the way officiating seems to concern itself with the consequences rather than the intent, but either way, if it is in the context of the game (Monahan and Ritchie were going after a puck), in no way do I think a criminal investigation is warranted.

In another context, taking a stick to the head of someone would easily bring about charges for aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, so forth.

Why do we afford leniency for someone doing it on the ice? Do we forgive the player for their passion that they commit to the game? Or do we simply not want to diminish the "drive" these players have for the puck, afraid to make contact with one another in the case that it leads to something more serious?

[GioforPM]

Well some players have been charged - McSorly, Ciccarelli, Bertuzzi, Williams, etc. and some were convicted.

I think the law is that sports aren't immune to criminal laws like an assault (which is defined as use of force which is not consented to). However, by participating in the sport you impliedly consent to use of force even where its a breach of the rules, because you know there are penalties that occur in the sport. That said, there is conduct which is beyond what participants ever expect and those acts would be chargeable.

That hit last night? No.

[GioforPM]

wikipedia:



On-ice incidents resulting in charges[edit]

• 1905 - Allan Loney was charged with manslaughter in the on-ice clubbing death of Alcide Laurin. Loney claimed self-defence, and was found not guilty.[5]
• 1907 - Ottawa Senators players Harry Smith, Alf Smith and Charles Spittal were charged with assault after beating Montreal Wanderers players Hod Stuart, Ernie "Moose" Johnson and Cecil Blatchford with their sticks.
• 1907 - Ottawa Victorias player Charles Masson was charged with manslaughter after Cornwall player Owen McCourt died of a head wound sustained in a brawl. Masson was found not guilty on the grounds that there was no way to know which blow had killed McCourt.[6]
• 1922 - Sprague Cleghorn injured three Ottawa Senators players in a brawl, leading Ottawa police to offer to arrest him.
• 1969 - In a pre-season game held in Ottawa, Ted Green of the Boston Bruins and Wayne Maki of the St.Louis Blues engaged in a violent, stick-swinging brawl. A fractured skull and brain damage caused Green to miss the entire 1969–1970 NHL season.[7] The NHL suspended Maki for 30 days and Green for 13 games. Both men were acquitted in court.
• 1975 - Dan Maloney of the Detroit Red Wings was charged with assault causing bodily harm after he attacked Brian Glennie of the Toronto Maple Leafs from behind. In exchange for a no-contest plea, Maloney did community service work and was banned from playing in Toronto for two seasons.
• 1975 - Police charged Bruins player Dave Forbes with aggravated assault after a fight with Henry Boucha of the Minnesota North Stars. After a nine-day trial ended with a hung jury, charges against Forbes were dropped. Boucha suffered blurred vision from the incident and never fully recovered.
• 1976 - Philadelphia Flyers players Joe Watson, Mel Bridgman, Don Saleski and Bob "Hound" Kelly were charged with assault after using their hockey sticks as weapons in a violent playoff game between the Flyers and the Toronto Maple Leafs in which fans had been taunting the Flyers players and spitting at them. Bridgman was acquitted, but the other three Flyers were found guilty of simple assault.
• 1976 - Calgary Cowboys forward Rick Jodzio plead guilty to a charge of assault following a cross-check to the head of Quebec Nordiques player Marc Tardif during the World Hockey Association playoffs. The hit led to a 20-minute bench clearing brawl.[8]
• 1977 - Dave "Tiger" Williams of the Toronto Maple Leafs hit Pittsburgh Penguin Dennis Owchar with his stick. He was charged with assault, but acquitted.
• 1982 - Jimmy Mann of the Winnipeg Jets left the bench and sucker-punched Pittsburgh Penguin Paul Gardner, breaking Gardner's jaw in two places. Mann was fined $500 and given a suspended sentence in Winnipeg.
• 1988 - Dino Ciccarelli hit Leafs defenceman Luke Richardson with his stick. Charged and convicted of assault, he was sentenced to one day in jail and fined $1,000.
• 1998 - Jesse Boulerice of the Plymouth Whalers was suspended for the rest of the playoffs after violently swinging his stick at Guelph Storm forward Andrew Long. Boulerice was charged with assault as a result of the incident.
• 2000 - Marty McSorley of the Boston Bruins hit Vancouver Canuck Donald Brashear in the head with his stick in the waning moments of the game, after losing a fight to Brashear earlier in the game. McSorley was convicted of assault with a weapon and given an 18-month conditional discharge.
• 2004 - In the Todd Bertuzzi - Steve Moore incident, Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks sucker-punched Moore of the Colorado Avalanche in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. The pair then fell to the ice with Bertuzzi's weight crushing Moore face-first into the ice, followed by several players from both teams further piling onto the mêlée. Moore sustained three fractured vertebrae, a grade three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and facial lacerations. Bertuzzi was charged by police, and given a conditional discharge after pleading guilty to assault causing bodily harm. His suspension resulted in a loss of $500,000 in pay and the Canucks were fined $250,000. Bertuzzi was re-instated in 2005; Moore has not played since and made several unsuccessful attempts at civil litigation.

[skudr248]

Shaking my head leaving this thread

[Five-hole]

Scope of implied consent.

Some actions exceed that scope. These are the really obvious ones -- Bertuzzi, McSorely, possibly the one in Sweden this week (I happen to think so). The vast majority do not.

The action has to be well beyond what is contemplated by the athletes in stepping onto the playing field. An unprovoked, two-handed chop to the legs during warmup fits many of what I would assume to be the criteria: (1) not during play (not even during the game); (2) not a play that really has anything to do with the competition (i.e. a body check has merit in terms of trying to win the game and is an "ordinary" play); (3) highly excessive compared to what would normally just be a penalty.

The Monahan hit doesn't fit (1) and (2), and arguably doesn't fit (3). It was dirty. Really dirty. But it's not even in the same universe as something that should be charged criminally.

[something]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Well some players have been charged - McSorly, Ciccarelli, Bertuzzi, Williams, etc. and some were convicted.

I think the law is that sports aren't immune to criminal laws like an assault (which is defined as use of force which is not consented to). However, by participating in the sport you impliedly consent to use of force even where its a breach of the rules, because you know there are penalties that occur in the sport. That said, there is conduct which is beyond what participants ever expect and those acts would be chargeable.

That hit last night? No.

That is really interesting, I want to look into this more.

And to refocus the conversation, the message in my OP is not necessarily that criminality be the ideal avenue to enforce rules on the ice, but that current enforcement methods fall short of preventing some over-the-top, egregious acts that are both malicious and deliberate.

Applying this to the incident last night, we need not pursue criminal charges against Ritchie, but what other enforcement methods can be invoked to prevent such dirty plays?

Also, thanks for the list Gio! I didn`t know there were so many instances where convictions were reached.

[codynw]

[Lord Carnage]

Originally Posted by something

That is really interesting, I want to look into this more.

And to refocus the conversation, the message in my OP is not necessarily that criminality be the ideal avenue to enforce rules on the ice, but that current enforcement methods fall short of preventing some over-the-top, egregious acts that are both malicious and deliberate.

Applying this to the incident last night, we need not pursue criminal charges against Ritchie, but what other enforcement methods can be invoked to prevent such dirty plays?

Also, thanks for the list Gio! I didn`t know there were so many instances where convictions were reached.

OK man - the fact that I've replied to this twice seems absurd to me. This really doesn't need this much effort.

Bad hit is supposed to equal suspension. I personally still like the self-policing model from hockey of yester-year, but if we are supposed to be beyond that now, then suspensions are the response to egregious violence.

That's it, that's all. Nothing else. Over-and-done-with. Finished.

[landshark]

God no, not the Monahan hit - that was just a bad/dirty play. It wasn't a crime.

But I would argue that Emery attack on Holtby could be. Completely unprovoked, Emery beat down an unwilling participant. Anywhere but on the ice, that is a crime.

[something]

Originally Posted by Lord Carnage

OK man - the fact that I've replied to this twice seems absurd to me. This really doesn't need this much effort.

Bad hit is supposed to equal suspension. I personally still like the self-policing model from hockey of yester-year, but if we are supposed to be beyond that now, then suspensions are the response to egregious violence.

That's it, that's all. Nothing else. Over-and-done-with. Finished.

And when there is no suspension? Or when suspensions are relatively impotent to prevent such behaviour?

And when the self-policing model of yester-year is volatile, inconsistent, and potentially counter-productive?

And when "enforcers" are becoming less common because regulating misconduct is being transferred to more official routes?

I don't mean to be abrasive. I just disagree that the situation is simple. You may think I am way off base to question the current enforcement model, but at the very least I find it an interesting conversation.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by something

In another context, taking a stick to the head of someone would easily bring about charges for aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, so forth.

Why do we afford leniency for someone doing it on the ice? Do we forgive the player for their passion that they commit to the game? Or do we simply not want to diminish the "drive" these players have for the puck, afraid to make contact with one another in the case that it leads to something more serious?

As mentioned earlier, there is implied consent that these players are knowingly participating in a potentially dangerous contact sport. That consent would not be implied for something so beyond the game, such as the incident in Sweden (IMO). There might be some grey areas, especially if you are using a stick as a weapon, but for the most part, I would suggest that it is highly unlikely that criminal charges would be laid in the case of a what amounts to a fairly ordinary penalty.

I feel like I am getting trolled on this, so I'll leave it at that.

[SofaProfessor]

You for real?