Darrell Davis: Hoping the Lethbridge referee was blameless

As a former hockey official, it sickened me to see what happened following a youth game in Lethbridge. And it made me hope the referee didn’t exacerbate the situation.

A referee, backing away from some angry men, got hauled to the ice and pummelled with a few punches. Lethbridge police subsequently charged two men with assaulting the referee. We can see what happened because — of course — somebody recorded the incident on their cellphone.

But we can’t see what happened immediately beforehand. According to a police report, a 10-year-old player slashed the referee twice with his stick. What inspired a 10-year-old to smack a referee? Did the referee say anything improper to the player? Did he shove the player to the ice, as some reports have stated?

No referee deserves to be physically threatened or harmed for simply officiating a hockey game.

So anyone whose kid treats a referee with such disrespect should be questioned about their parenting techniques. Any kid who acts like that needs to have his attitude adjusted. But if the referee incited that action through improper words or a too-aggressive physical action, the referee also needs to disciplined.