An awful-looking incident during a youth hockey game this past weekend has started a heated debate over potential punishment for the player.
During a game on Saturday between Bay State Breakers and South Shore Kings in Massachusetts, a player was caught on camera delivering a vicious, two-handed slash to the head of an opposing player — breaking his stick in the process.
A Breakers player had just been stopped on a breakaway when his teammate came in from behind and blindsided his opponent on the Kings. The referee quickly blew the whistle and separated the players while the victim appeared to be able to get to his feet after the incident.
X user @blackhawkce457 posted the video on Saturday night and it has since been views more than 6.7 million times.
WARNING: Graphic language/content
What happened before the slash?
In a longer video post on Reddit from the LiveBarn feed, it shows that the two players had been involved in some roughing prior to the play.
After the Kings player recovered the puck and sent it back down the ice, he was nudged from behind by another player and then knocked the Breakers player to the ice with what appeared to be a cross-check to the body.
From the ice, the Breakers player then chopped at the Kings’ player’s legs, which led to him retaliated by shoving the Breaker back to the ice before the main incident occurred.
Was there punishment?
According to the user who posted the clip, the Breakers player’s mother could be heard yelling at her son to apologize.
According to Gamesheet statistical tracking, the unnamed Breakers player was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for his actions while a member of the Kings received a roughing minor.
The Eastern Hockey Federation issued a statement about the viral incident on Sunday, saying that player safety is a “top priority” and that it is has escalated the matter to Massachusetts Hockey and USA Hockey to handle further discipline.
“The Eastern Hockey Federation is aware of the recent on-ice incidents circulating online,” the statement said. “Player safety is our top priority and actions that compromise player well-being have zero place in our league.”
The EHF added that its takes these situations seriously and “remain committed to maintaining a safe, competitive and respectful environment for all players, coaches, officials and families.”
Neither team has publicly commented on the incident.
What is the reaction online?
The incident has sparked much debate over what type of punishment the youth player should receive.
Most users on social media could agree with either full-season or permanent ban for the player, but others felt that wasn’t enough.
“Wow, I am a big keep it on the field guy, but that’s an absolute felony assault,” one user wrote. “That was not heat of the moment in competition either, watch him skate up, he knew exactly what he was gonna do.”
“That isn’t an enforcer that is criminal petty poor sportsmanship,” another replied, adding that “Yes definitely” the player should be banned.
“Kid needs to be pulled for the year at least and have a talk with the police so he understands he literally could have killed someone,” a third user commented.
While some felt that mandated therapy would do the player well, others felt that a simple suspension would be enough.
“He should be suspended for a number of games or even the rest of the year,” one user commented. “But to completely take hockey away from what looks to be a 10 year old for taking retaliation too far isn’t fair.”
“Yes, it’s horrible and he needs to be punished severely but he’s a kid. Let him learn from it,” another replied.