NR.085

28 October 1996
NR085.96

APPEALS COMMITTEE REDUCES UNIVERSITY OF MONCTON PLAYER'S SUSPENSION

OTTAWA -- A Special Appeals Committee has reduced by half a one-year suspension meted out to University of Moncton player Philippe Lavoie, one of five Blue Eagles players disciplined after a referee was attacked during a playoff game last February, Canadian Hockey announced Monday.
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After reviewing documentation and viewing videotapes of the incident, the three committee members decided to terminate Lavoie's suspension as of midnight December 31, 1996. The ruling is significant because entering this season, Lavoie, 19, had four years of university eligibility remaining. The other suspended players were either in their fourth or fifth year of eligibility.

The incident occurred after referee Brian Carragher, after consulting with the linesman and the goal judge, let stand an overtime goal by the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers. The loss eliminated the defending CIAU champion Blue Eagles from the playoffs.

Following the goal, Carragher was swarmed by about nine Moncton players. Charlottetown police laid assault charges against four Moncton players, as well as a charge of damage to property against an assistant coach. All five received conditional discharges.

Don Wells, the Atlantic University Athletic Association hockey convenor, meted out suspensions to five players, ranging from one year to Lavoie, to five years for three others. All five appealed to the AUAA's ethics commission, which significantly reduced the penalties for all five players.

At its annual general meeting in Halifax in May, Canadian Hockey's board of directors reinstated the AUAA's original suspensions.

Lavoie appealed again and Canadian Hockey struck a Special Appeals Committee, composed of Frank Libera, Jim Kinkley and Larry Clark.

In a written decision, Libera noted the videotape was inconclusive regarding Lavoie's on-ice activities during the attack on Carragher. 'For that reason, we felt that we could not 'beyond the shadow of a reasonable doubt' say that Lavoie was guilty of attempting to spear the referee.'

The tape showed Lavoie on the perimeter of the scrum, reaching his stick into a cluster of players. Lavoie claimed he was trying to hook his goaltender to pull him out of the melee. Some believed Lavoie was trying to spear the referee, Carragher.

Libera further noted:

'Nevertheless, this whole incident is a very serious breach of everything the CHA believes about the values that young people should learn through playing and watching the game. Regardless of what Lavoie's intent toward the referee was, he certainly was part of the total problem. The whole sequence shows him being part of the scrum and making several attempts to get himself more into the centre of the action involving the referee. The tape also shows that some other Moncton players decided to remove themselves from the activities of their teammates and merely stood on the sidelines as observers. This was the prudent course of action but not the one chosen by Lavoie.'

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Brad Pascall
Director, Communications
Hockey Canada
(403) 777-4556
bpascall@hockeycanada.ca

Andre Brin
Manager, Media Relations
Hockey Canada
(403) 777-3609
abrin@hockeycanada.ca