A Nipissing University hockey player was banned from competing in any Ontario University Athletics (OUA) sanctioned competition earlier this month after he punched a linesman during a game.
Nipissing Lakers defenceman Brett Cook struck linesman Nicholas Piché with an uppercut, after Piché had removed him from a fight against a Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières player, OUA executive director Ward Dilse said.
It’s the first time in OUA history that a hockey player has been given a sanction this severe, according to Dilse.
While fights or brawls in university hockey occur regularly, the physical abuse of a linesman does not, Dilse said.
“It’s certainly not something that we see in hockey anywhere, period,” he said.
Following the Feb. 23 incident, the OUA established a two-member panel to review what happened and determine appropriate sanctions. Dilse said the panel conducted interviews with Piché and Cook as well as Lakers coach Mike McParland and athletic director Vito Castiglione. They also consulted with a number of other hockey organizations, he added.
“It was a very comprehensive process,” Dilse said. “It had to be due to the severity of the incident and because of the significant sanctions that were placed because of it.”
Nipissing University communications officer Bob Pipe said McParland, Cook and Castiglione won’t grant interviews relating to the sanction. In a statement released by the university, Cook apologized for his actions.
“What I did was wrong, plain and simple,” he said.
Dilse said both Cook and the university were cooperative throughout the inquiry into the incident and accepted the sanction without appeal.
“Nipissing University takes this incident very seriously and we respect the league’s decision. We have also completed an internal review of the event under our Athlete Code of Conduct. We will be working to support Brett both inside and outside the classroom and are committed to helping him to realize his academic and personal goals,” Castiglione said in the release.
The Lakers finished the regular season in sixth place. They beat the McGill Redmen in the opening round of playoffs before losing to UQTR in the second round.
