Coach who tripped player faces assault charge
Minor hockey incident caught on video
Mounties are recommending a charge of assault against a minor hockey coach who tripped a 13-year-old in the handshake line following a game Saturday, leaving the youth with a broken wrist.
Martin Tremblay has been suspended from the Vancouver Minor Hockey Association as a result, Dion DeMarco of the VMHA told the Vancouver Province. The suspension is pending a disciplinary hearing with Tremblay, who coached with the VMHA last season. It was his first year in the league, DeMarco said, but not his first year as a coach.
He inquired about coaching with the VMHA when his son was relegated to a different division of Vancouver Thunderbirds Minor Hockey Association, and all their coaching spots were filled.
DeMarco said they were in need of a coach for their 11- to 12-yearold boys, and Tremblay cleared a criminal record check.
Amateur video of Saturday’s game shows Tremblay, coach of the Hornets in the UBC youth spring recreational league, tripping a 13-year-old player following a 5-4 win for his club during the exchange of handshakes with players on the Richmond Steel team following the game.
“He coached for us but when he was doing this, he was on his free time,” DeMarco said. “This is a league run by the UBC and ultimately they’re the ones responsible for him coaching at that incident.”
One parent of a Richmond Steel player, who did not want to be identified, said the incident started after the Steel player who was injured started to celebrate the opening goal. “He was celebrating and he skated by the (opposing) bench and obviously, the coach said something to him because the player then turned around and gave him the finger,” the parent said.
“Every time that kid was on the ice, you could see the coach would be talking to him, trash talking him, basically,” added the parent.
“It was to the point where the kid was visibly upset on the bench.”
It was the final game of an eightgame regular season with playoffs in the three-team league, and the competition between the two teams was fierce.