The World Ball Hockey Championships are currently taking place in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Canada was taking on the Czech Republic and the Czech’s were absolutely smoking them. With a second to play, they added an empty-netter to make the final score 5-1. When they went to drop the ball to let the clock run out, that’s when the real craziness began. Canada’s Justin Pender was lined up on the wing and he just went completely nuts. Skip ahead to the 2:00 mark to see Pender attack a Czech player and throw punches at the goalie while the referee was in between them.
Here’s some more details on the altercation from The Telegram:
Canadian defenceman Justin Pender of St. John’s was given a double match penalty with one second left after an incident that resulted in a game official being taken off the floor on a stretcher. The official was reportedly injured as he tried to intervene when Pender tangled with a Czech player after the winners scored an empty-net goal. Czech goaltender Lukas Heczko was also involved.
As for what will result, a posting on the world ball hockey championships Twitter site (@2013WBHC) read “A Canadian player acted violently towards another player. Referees will announce penalties and proper processes will be followed. Tournament will issue statement once that has occurred.”
Kudos to the goalie for being the only Czech player to try and stand up for his teammate and help him out. I can’t believe that none of the other players did anything to try and break it up. I also think it’s safe to say that Justin Pender will never play in another World Ball Hockey Championship ever again.
[Eye on Hockey]