Hockey Player Faces Severe Punishment For Fighting Fans That Taunted Him Outside the Locker Room
A hockey player in Newfoundland is getting suspended for engaging in some fans outside his locker room that began taunting him as he passed by.
A public relations firestorm is brewing for the newly-formed Avalon East Senior Hockey League in the wake of an off-ice altercation between a star player and fans in Harbour Grace, N.L. The league has indefinitely suspended Clarenville Ford Caribous assistant captain Justin Pender over an alleged incident where he confronted fans outside the team's locker room.
Pender's suspension comes on the heels of his being kicked out of the game against the HGOE CeeBee Stars, a team said to be outskating the Caribous by a comfortable margin. Frustrated, Pender was getting into rough plays throughout, finding himself tossed with less than ten minutes remaining in the game. Leaving the ice, he was taunted by fans, to which he reportedly responded by engaging in a physical altercation.
One of the fans, John Drover of Bay Roberts, can be seen gesturing at Pender as the player enters the hallway from the ice surface.
Pender stops and throws the broken shaft of his stick at the fans from a distance of nearly 10 metres, and it lands harmlessly at Drover's feet.
Pender then starts walking aggressively toward the fans, fully clad in his hockey gear and already incensed from an earlier outburst on the ice in which he confronted the CeeBees' bench and smashed his stick on the leg of an opposing player as an official was escorting Pender off the ice. Video of that on-ice skirmish has been shared widely on social media.
Meanwhile, a young boy can be seen on the security video entering the hallway entrance, but quickly retreats when he sees Pender - who stands six feet four inches, weighs 215 pounds and has a reputation for playing an edgy, tough style of hockey - storming toward him.
However, Drover stands his ground as Pender reaches the end of the hallway. It's at this point that Pender, wearing his bulky hockey gloves, starts throwing punches at Drover.
Pender's teammate, Thomas Hedges, who was also ejected from the game, can also be seen running down the hallway behind Pender.
Some of the fracas is not captured by the security camera, so it's not clear if Hedges is throwing punches or trying to extricate his teammate from the melee. Caribous' general manager Ivan Hapgood is also seen walking down the hallway and out of the camera frame."
Video of the fight taking place
Incidents such as this are not new to Senior hockey, which over the years has seen its fair share of disputes, heated on and off the ice. While such acts are most definitely not condonable, neither are they utterly unexpected within this context. Senior hockey can bring out the best regarding competitiveness and offer a passionate fan base that can, at times, make for these event scenarios.
It doesn't help that Pender's got a reputation as a player with a bit of a hot head. For a lot of people, this simply fits his public image, especially for those who can recall his antics playing with Spittin' Chiclets' ball hockey team, where he made a similar impression.
If anything, it points out that this recent altercation does not place the Avalon East Senior Hockey League in a good light but points to something bigger, a problem within the culture of Senior hockey. The most important thing that can be done as the league works to repair its image and prevent any future incidents will be to manage player conduct and professionalism, even when that player is under pressure.
