Vicious player attack leaves referee with fractured skull.

An outrageous incident in the province of Quebec has left one referee very seriously injured, one so shocking that I fear it will continue to discourage an ever dwindling number of young people from considering the possibility of volunteering or working as an official themselves.

The North American Ball Hockey Players Association (NBHPA) has confirmed a truly horrifying incident occurred in their league on Tuesday night after a player was ejected from a contest. That player would take his frustrations out at one of the officials overseeing the game, violently and brutally assaulting him with his stick.

According to the official statement released by the NBHPA, the referee was struck once in the chest and again in the face with enough force to fracture both his skull and his jaw. Additionally, the official suffered damage to all of his teeth, with the league announcing that he will need extensive facial reconstructive surgery to recover from this terrible incident.

To make matters worse, the player in question is well into adulthood with law enforcement officials confirming that they have arrested a 31 year old man in connection with this event. The player has received a lifetime ban and hopefully he will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for this heinous act.

In images shared by Global News we can see the extent of the damage to his face. The 39 year old victim's face has been blurred out as he wishes to remain anonymous.

This unfortunately seems to be just one more terrible incident in a seemingly ever growing trend of attacks on officials in the world of sports, one that hockey itself has been no stranger to. I hope the victim in this incident can make a full and hopefully speedy recovery from the surgeries he will need.