We’ve all been there. Either in the stands watching our friends or siblings play or on the ice with our parents watching. Something happens, either you are on the wrong side of a two-hander or you get slashed while you have the puck covered and you hear a familiar scream or yell on the other side of the glass. It’s your parents going crazy because the referees didn’t call a penalty you drew.
You may say “Shut up Dad” under your breath but to one hockey player in Pennsylvania her dad embarassed her to levels so high it won’t come down for a while.
According to an article in Huffington Post, the dad (who’s name is Paul) was so angered over his daughter getting taken down (which the ref had his hand up to call a penalty) that he used profane language and slammed his left hand against the glass so hard that it shattered it. The manager of the rink told Huffington Post that his wedding ring is what shattered the glass and the ring broke as well. A comment on YouTube claiming to be a family friend of Paul said his ring was made of Carbide and the hardness of the metal caused it to shatter the glass. The man has been banned from the arena and has to pay to replace the pane of glass in addition to his wedding ring.
To recap, a man is now banned from watching his daughter play hockey and has to pay to replace a pane of glass and his wedding ring because he was angry over an officials call? Was it really worth it? I hope he’s learned his lesson. This incident occurred just as Vancouver Island is considering banning spectators because of persistent harassment of referees. Mind you these kids who referee youth hockey games are as young as 15/16 years old trying to make a few bucks to save money for a new car or a new hockey stick. I started officiating when I was 15 and I’ve seen my fair share of abusive parents. I can say I’ve only been approached in a parking lot once in my 15 years as an official and once is too many. I don’t really care if you boo or is displeased with a call, but parents cross the line when running up to me with a finger pointed as I’m skating off the ice or they make a comment directed to me personally. But to cause a stoppage of play like shattering the glass is just cause to get banned from a rink because he’s not mature enough to keep his emotions in check.
I play at that rink, and in defense of that guy, people slam on the glass all the time. He had to go to the hospital to get his hand stitched up, and this was during a tournament- he was a parent from the away team (located in Florida), so the ban from the rink really had no effect. The craziest thig about the whole story is that a parent from the same team was the one who videotaped and posted this online