An ugly end to a pee-wee hockey game on the West Island earlier this month led to two youth hockey coaches being suspended.
The pee-wee AAA game on the afternoon of Nov. 12 opposed the Lac St. Louis Lions and the Montreal National. The Lions were on their way to an 8-3 win when, just three seconds before the end of the third period, a National player hit a Lions player over the head. He received a double-minor penalty for the incident.
After the hit, the Lac St. Louis coach apparently sent one of his bigger players with a purpose — to "send a message" to the other team.
Immediately following the next faceoff, with the game virtually over, that bigger player hit one of the National players on the head, sending him crumpling to the ice.
The National coach told La Presse that he distinctly heard the Lac St. Louis coach tell his player, "send him a message" in the instants before that happened.
Shortly afterward, the two coaches apparently came to blows as the players engaged in the usual post-game handshakes. Differing accounts of the incident suggest either punches were thrown, or one of the men grabbed the other by the neck.
Both coaches earned three-game suspensions for the altercation.
Last month, another Lac St. Louis pee-wee AAA coach was removed from his post for the rest of the season after he had his players perform anywhere from 100 to 300 push-ups, in full equipment, as punishment following a loss.