N.L. hockey player suspended after repeatedly punching fan who taunted him
CBC
The launch of a new Avalon East Senior Hockey League season has been marred by an off-ice altercation between some players and fans in Harbour Grace, with the town council promising severe consequences for those involved and the visiting team criticizing security measures and the availability of alcohol at the Danny Cleary Community Centre.
The Oct. 26 game between the visiting Clarenville Ford Caribous and the host HGOE CeeBee Stars turned into a penalty-filled affair in the third period, with the CeeBees running up the score against their rivals.
The tension spilled off the ice with less than 10 minutes remaining as one of the league's top players, Clarenville's Justin Pender, reacted violently to some taunting as he made his way to the dressing room after being ejected from the game.
Pender has received a three-game suspension from league officials. Pender and one of the fans involved may also be banned from entering the town-owned arena, Mayor Don Coombs confirmed on Monday.
"I was shocked," Coombs said of the security camera footage that captured the incident.
"You can't come into public buildings and and act in that manner, no matter what the reason."
The town council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to vote on a recommendation from the arena liaison committee.
"There will be consequences to the actions that were taken," Coombs said.
CBC News has obtained a copy of security camera footage, which shows four male fans making their way to the hallway entrance beneath the arena bleachers, where the dressing rooms are located.
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.
A new study suggests that a colony of sea birds nesting on Cape Parry in the N.W.T. could face increasing threats related to increased Arctic shipping traffic and environmental change.
Albertans — predominantly members of the South Asian community — gathered at the Venice Banquet Hall in northeast Calgary for a town hall Saturday to address concerns around extortion and crime, with provincial and federal elected officials in attendance.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party's focus on affordability "is what unites all Conservatives," as the Tories grapple with another MP crossing the floor to join the Liberals — bringing them one seat shy of forming a majority government.
Toronto, York and Peel police are increasing their presence in the Jewish community during Hanukkah after the harrowing attack at Australia’s Bondi Beach on Sunday.
Another round of wintry weather is moving through Nova Scotia and P.E.I. on Sunday and will continue into Monday, with more snow and gusty winds, followed by frigid temperatures.
Hundreds of Londoners showed up at CBC's annual Make the Season Kind holiday event on Thursday in support of the London Food Bank.
The crisp weather didn’t stop the hundreds of people who took part in the annual Mummer’s parade in Bowring Park, St. John’s Saturday.
Wake Lloire loves how slow letter writing is, from composition right to its arrival at its final destination by mail. It's like a "little time capsule."
Experts are constantly warning the public to be on guard for new and increasingly convincing scams, but police say the holiday shopping season is especially fraught with risk.
A surgeon who used to work at Flin Flon's hospital says residents in the northwestern Manitoba city have been left in a precarious situation after more than five years without general surgery services.
Moubarak Bokhit Ali's memories of his home country of Sudan are punctuated by flashes of violence.
The man behind the Moose Jaw health centre that has claimed “a 100 per cent success rate in stopping the progression and in restoring function of people with ALS” says a recent CBC story about his company is evidence that he is seen as “a direct threat to the ALS drug industry.”
The Neighbour to Neighbour Centre’s trans and non-binary grocery program, which offers free food and household products to community members once a month, began with a simple question: how do we get free menstrual products to trans people without being awkward?