The parents of a Prince George hockey player are taking the B.C. Amateur Hockey Association to court, saying a five-game suspension issued to their son was meted out in an "unjust manner."
According to a petition filed Tuesday at the Prince George courthouse, the 16-year-old player was on the ice when his team scored its fifth goal during a Prince George Minor Hockey Association under-18 recreational tournament game on December 20.
The player celebrated the goal with his teammates then, while passing by the team benches for a line change, an opponent called him a "fat, f---- retard." The player responded by gesturing back with his middle finger without removing his glove.
The player was immediately ejected for gross misconduct. He exited the game as directed and did not "make any further directions, argue with the official or say anything as he left the game," the player's father, Dwayne Pommer, a Prince George lawyer, says in the petition.
The referee who issued the ejection subsequently filed an incident report to the BCAHA (also known as BC Hockey) via an app on his phone and, later that evening, the player was suspended for five games - one game for being penalized in the final 10 minutes of the contest and another four pursuant to the BCAHA's minimum suspension guidelines for a gross misconduct.
Ten days later, Pommer submitted a notice of application for appeal to the BCAHA, with the $500 fee paid by credit card, contending the suspension was done in an "unjust manner and should be reversed."
"Granting this appeal will not prevent BC Hockey from suspending Jacob for the incident, if you feel it is warranted. This appeal is just requesting that you do so in a fair manner. You should ask some question and review the evidence before you make a decision," Pommer says in the notice, included in a package of documents filed along with the petition.
In a letter accompanying the notice of appeal, Pommer says his son should have been given a 10-minute misconduct penalty and nothing more, maintaining that the gesture did not constitute a gross misconduct as spelled out in the Hockey Canada playing rules.
"It did not make a travesty of the game," Pommer says.
On January 6, BCAHA's appeal committee chair issued a "summary decision" in which he concludes that because the suspension was issued under the minimum suspension guidelines it cannot be appealed.
In an interview, BCAHA CEO Cameron Hope said a player who is facing a suspension greater than the minimum is open to taking the matter through a formal appeal and that the guideline is in place to prevent hockey's governing bodies from becoming overburdened with formal appeals.
Hope said there is a process in place for those who "disagree with the process" outside of turning to the courts.
"I don't begrudge people using whatever pathway they'd like to try to resolve something," Hope said. "We don't agree that this is the right path but we'll deal with that as well."
However, Pommer maintains the decision was carried out in a manner that contravened BCAHA's society bylaws.
Filing of a formal response to the petition remains pending and the allegations have not yet been tested in court.
