Junior league hockey players are trying to get noticed, right? Not this way.
A 21-year-old player with the Sherbrooke (Quebec) Hockey-Experts has made waves after video surfaced of his fighting with an official in the middle of a game, which resulted in him being arrested before the match was through.
Olivier Marcotte, reportedly in his final year of eligibility with the Junior AA club, first fought verbally with the ref, then allegedly spit on him before they battled on the ice in an ugly incident on Sunday during a decisive Game 3 against Nicolet.
It’s unclear what set Marcotte off, but on the video he is seen throwing punches the official’s way as he is wrestled to the ground. Other referees come to intercede, but that discipline was the least of Marcotte’s problems. Once he was restrained on the ice, police entered, handcuffed him and took him to get booked.
According to CBC News in Montreal, he was released from police custody that same night, and no complaints have been filed against him thus far.
Without Marcotte? The Hockey-Experts lost 9-3, their season over and Marcotte’s eligibility (and anonymity) finished.