The two teams who participated in the sanctioned street hockey tournament in Egg Harbor Township, NJ, were suspended. Video of the brawl began circulating online but was subsequently taken down and reportedly turned over to local police.

A recent article from NJ.com detailed the events that led up to the brawl and the Maple Shade Street Hockey Association’s response. Below is an excerpt from the NJ.com article.

“We are cooperating with the relevant authorities and law enforcement agencies as they investigate the matter, and all relevant security and spectator footage is being turned over to the appropriate officials,” the statement said, according to a statement issued Monday from the American Ball Hockey Alliance.

The Maple Shade Cadet A and Frenzy Cadet A teams were suspended from the tournament, the organization said. The Maple Shade Cadet A assistant coach was also suspended.

Officials said in the statement that “the ABHA Board will convene to discuss further disciplinary measures for both teams as it relates to the remainder of the ABHA season.”

“It is important to note that this incident was instigated by out-of-town teams and does not reflect the values or behavior of the host facility, Egg Harbor Township Street Hockey or their teams or families,” the ABHA statement said.

The association said it recognized “that this incident has garnered significant attention, and we are fully committed to learning from it to continually improve the experience for all those involved in the sport.”

The Maple Shade Street Hockey Association also addressed the fight in a statement on Sunday.

“It is with great disappointment that we address the events that took place in Egg Harbor Township on Saturday. The behavior displayed by certain players and parents falls far below the standards we expect and uphold,” the statement said.

To view the full article from NJ.com, click here. 

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According to a Seattle Police Department report, officers responded around 11:50 a.m. to a report of an assault at the iceplex, located at 10651 5th Avenue Northeast in Seattle, Washington.

A recent article from MSN.com detailed the encounter between the parent and the hockey referee. Below is an excerpt from the MSN.com article.

The caller reported that an angry parent had pushed a 16-year-old referee. Police arrived minutes later and stopped a vehicle matching the suspect’s description as it was leaving the area.

The driver, identified as Uriel Isaac Cortes Gonzalez, 40, told officers he had been watching his son’s hockey game when he saw his son get into a fight with another player. He said his son was punched and kicked for about 30 seconds while referees failed to intervene, prompting him to step onto the ice to break up the fight. He admitted to pushing a referee but claimed he was defending his child.

However, police reviewed surveillance footage of the incident, which showed a man matching Cortes Gonzalez’s description entering the ice from the officials’ box during a stoppage in play.

The video allegedly shows him walking up to a referee and forcefully shoving him to the ice before pushing another official. Witnesses described the attack as unprovoked.

One of the referees told police he heard someone shout, “Get the [expletive] off my kid!” before being shoved hard enough to knock him off his skates and onto his back. The second referee said he was pushed into the rink’s boards, injuring his elbow.

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Seattle Fire Department medics evaluated both teens for minor injuries.

Witnesses, including rink officials and spectators, told officers they saw Cortes Gonzalez aggressively confront the referees. One witness, who was working in the officials’ box, said she saw him push both referees, knocking them to the ice.

To read the full story from MSN.com, click here. 

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The researchers based their study on Sweden’s two highest hockey divisions for men — the SHL and Hockeyallsvenskan, and the women’s top league, SDHL. A total of 648 players, 180 of them women, completed the researchers’ online questionnaire. The focus of the questions was on alcohol consumption, mental health and concussion history.

A lot of research is undertaken in both Europe and the USA into the effects of concussions on mental health and well-being.

“However, we want to investigate more long-term consequences for Swedish top players — six months or more after a concussion. The players’ responses have provided important insights into the links between concussion and mental health effects,” says Mitchell Andersson, doctoral student in psychiatry at Lund University.

He is behind the study, which has now been published in the journal BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, together with Anders Håkansson, consultant physician and professor of addiction medicine at Lund University. When Lund University researchers collated the reported psychiatric symptoms among players, the male players were shown to have significantly fewer symptoms of depression/anxiety and burnout than other men — whether that be elite athletes in other sports or the wider Swedish male workforce. Thirty percent of male hockey players did, however, report at-risk levels of alcohol consumption — far more than in the comparison groups.

For female hockey players, the picture was slightly different. The prevalence of depression/anxiety symptoms was comparable to that of the average Swedish woman. Burnout, however, was far more common: over 19 percent of the women reported living with clinical symptoms of burnout — almost double the rate among Swedish women on average. The female hockey players also reported that they drank a lot of alcohol. The percentage of respondents reporting that they reached the level of at-risk consumption was 36.4 percent — also far above average.

Concerning concussions, both female and male hockey players who reported more concussions were more likely to report elevations in various psychiatric symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety). The correlation was clearest in both sexes after three or more concussions: the risk of developing symptoms of depression doubled, and the risk of burnout was three-and-a-half times higher. More than one in four male and almost one in five female players reported having suffered at least three concussions.

“Other studies have shown that women experience more short-term symptoms after a concussion than men, but it was interesting that the link between concussion and heightened prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and burnout was equally strong for both sexes. This might indicate that the long-term neuropsychiatric recovery process is more similar in men and women than the short-term process,” says Mitchell Andersson.

To meet the criteria for burnout, the individual is to have lived under stress for a least six months and to have developed a number of physical and psychiatric symptoms. According to Mitchell Andersson, however, it can sometimes be difficult to see what is what — long-term symptoms after a concussion are often similar to those of burnout, such as cognitive impairment, irritability, difficulty concentrating and sleep problems.

The results of the study suggest several lines to follow up, argues Mitchell Andersson. One is to dig into why alcohol consumption among elite players is so high.

“Hockey players are physically slightly larger and are perhaps able to drink a little more. Their own view of themselves, and that of others, maybe that they are a bit tougher than others. There can be a sense of pride in being part of such a subculture. Romanticizing alcohol can be a part of it, for both men and women,” Mitchell Andersson speculates. He played hockey at a non-elite level.

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This same self-assumed toughness might contribute to male players actually underreporting possible mental health issues. The fact that such a high proportion of women report burnout symptoms even without concussion might point to a recurring pattern within women’s sport at the highest level: Their salaries are lower than the men’s. They are more likely to have to combine hockey with another job or academic studies. Juggling their responsibilities with late-night matches, often far from home, can be an impossible equation.

“Swedish hockey players at elite level need to know where and how they can get help. There is help available aimed at this target group. Imagine that you are an elite athlete who trains regularly, eats healthily, and earns good money from the sport you love — and yet you are still struggling. Can you imagine how frightening and isolating that must feel? Not having to feel alone in your state of mind is important,” concludes Mitchell Andersson.

This is a press release from Lund Unversity.* 

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Braden Knapp, a senior forward for the Nantucket High School Whalers varsity hockey team, was suspended on March 5 and was not allowed to play in the first two rounds of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Division 4 playoffs.

The Whalers finished the regular season with a record of 15-4-1 and earned the two-seed in the Div. 4 tournament. They are currently three games away from a state championship.

A recent story from the Nantucket Current detailed the suspension and what led up to the decision by the MIAA. Below is an excerpt from the Nantucket Current story.

The “violent assault of an official” suspension was upheld by a five-person committee selected by the MIAA, and the decision came in a 5-0 vote. Knapp is the Whaler’s second-leading scorer this year with 15 goals and 17 assists for 32 points in 20 games. He had never been suspended or issued a major penalty in his high school sports career prior to the February 22^nd game against the Sandwich Blue Knights at the Gallo Arena. This was a first-time offense.

After the Whaler’s round one matchup against St. John Paul II on March 1, it was clear Knapp was still in shock over the whole situation. He told the Current and a couple of spectators around him that he regretted the incident deeply, that it was in the heat of the moment, and something “he would never do again.”

Knapp also denies attempting to shoot the puck at the referee. The intention was to take attention away from the scrum ensuing at center ice and end it.

For background, the chippy game between the Whalers and Blue Knights – two of the top teams in Division 4 – turned ugly in the game’s final seconds after a Sandwich player hit a Nantucket player behind the play – prompting one of the Whaler player’s teammates to return the favor with a crosscheck to the Blue Knight’s player later in the shift in what he said was a defense of his linemate.

Below is the clip of the incident. As the scrum drags out, check out the eight-second mark – top right of the video – and you’ll see Knapp shoot a puck into the scrum. The refs issued a disqualification penalty for “violent assault of an official” although all indications given to the Current at this time have been that no official was hit.

According to the MIAA Handbook Section 49.3.8: “a student who physically assaults an official shall be expelled from the activity immediately and banned from further participation in all sports for one year from the date of the offense.”

However, one-year suspensions can be appealed to an Eligibility Appeals Board (EAB) hearing to decide the length of the penalty. Knapp had his hearing on Thursday, February 29^th.

An appeal needs to be initiated by the high school principal of the student in question, which Nantucket High School principal Mandy Vasil did. The disqualification determination then goes to the EAB Appeal Board for review.

The EAB consists of dozens of members ranging from athletic directors, principals, and superintendents across the state. On the MIAA’s website, they list 41 names of administrators across Massachusetts who are on the board.

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Whitman Hanson High School Athletic Director Bob Rodgers, who is one of the 41 EAB board members, was not part of this hearing but responded to a thread on Twitter (X) that originally broke the news of the suspension. He thoroughly detailed and outlined the process.

“The executive staff of the MIAA reaches out to the members and sees who is available for the hearings (oftentimes it can be a 3-5 hour commitment depending on how many cases are on the docket),” Rodgers said. “Five members are selected and then the school which has filed the appeal gets to present their case with witnesses, video, etc. Following their presentation, the board then discusses in private and votes. The intent is always to give students due process while upholding the integrity of the important rules that govern high school athletics in the state of Massachusetts.”

To read the full story from the Nantucket Current, click here. 

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The coaches from an Ohio boys’ high school hockey program were placed on leave last week.

Olentangy Liberty High School’s head hockey coach, Kevin Alexander, was among the three coaches placed on leave.

He issued a letter to his players thanking them for their hard work while expressing disappointment with the timing ahead of the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) state hockey tournament.

A recent story from 10TV.com detailed the coaches’ suspension. Below is an excerpt from the 10TV.com story.

“No great coach is perfect, but every great coach and great player knows Hockey is a tough game that requires grit and mental toughness. Great coaches always have nothing but the best interest of their players in mind. As everyone knows we have nothing but love and respect for our past and present players,” his letter read in part.

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