Hockey player receives lifetime ban after sucker punching referee, on video.

There was an unbelievable scene at a hockey rink over the weekend and thankfully for those of you interested in seeing how it all played out the whole thing was captured on video.

On Sunday a wild scene erupted during a game between the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Knights and the South Shore Kings of the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL). During the very first period of the game, with the score tied at 0 - 0, a player that the league has chosen not to identify was involved in a rather serious altercation with an on ice official.

During the course of the play one of the linesmen was unable to get out of the way of the unnamed player, resulting in what by all accounts appeared to be an accidental collision between the two men. Due to the audio quality of the clip we have obtained it is unclear if the player expressed his displeasure to the linesman or if something else happened during their collision, but for whatever reason the linesman took it upon himself to toss the player from the game.

Whether or not you think that course of action was justified, it is clear that the player involved here did not agree with the decision. As he was being escorted off the ice he lunged at the official that made the call, delivering a stiff sucker punch to his head and dropping him to the ice in the process. To his credit the linesman was able to quickly get back up to his feet and quite frankly he seemed more shocked by the fact that the punch had been delivered than hurt by the punch itself. He simply raised both of his arms up to the side as if to say 'what the hell, man?'

This decision on his part has effectively put an end to his time in the league, and perhaps his hockey career, with the USPHL's commissioner Bob Turow publishing the following statement on the league's social media platforms:

Regarding the incident that took place today, where an on-ice official was struck by a player, Commissioner Bob Turow has issued the following statement:

“The action taken today by a USPHL player is completely unacceptable in the USPHL. The USPHL has zero tolerance for any player striking any official, at any time. The player in question’s actions have led to a lifetime ban. The incident is currently being investigated by local authorities and as such the USPHL will have no further comments at this time.”

The league has clearly gone to some lengths to avoid naming the player, either due to the fact that he may be a minor or simply due to the fact that this is now a legal matter that will involve law enforcement. While I will also refrain from identifying the player until we have more information on the matter, I will share the video of the incident which you can check out in the short clip below.