Burnaby RCMP was called out to a hockey arena Sunday afternoon following an apparently ugly incident involving North Vancouver parents at a hockey game on the weekend.
Off-ice behaviour reportedly took an unsportsmanlike turn on Saturday night, during a hockey game between peewee teams from North Vancouver Minor Hockey Association and Burnaby Minor Hockey Association at Burnaby Lake Arena.
The exact nature of the incident remains unclear, but “It involved threats to the on-ice officials that were made by some of the North Vancouver hockey parents,” said Terry Shein, general manager of Burnaby Winter Club.
That led the referee in charge of both venues to ban parents and guardians of the North Vancouver team players from attending Sunday’s game at Burnaby Winter Club.
It also led officials to call in RCMP to stand by at the arena, just in case.
The president of North Vancouver Minor Hockey Association also attended outside the arena Sunday to make sure no further trouble erupted.
Shein said he didn’t know exactly what had happened at the Saturday night game, but added, “Somebody thought it was important enough to have the RCMP there.”
Nobody at North Vancouver Minor Hockey Association responded to a request for comment on the incident.
According to the association’s website, hockey parents are required to complete an educational program encouraging “positive behaviour” called Sportsmanship Starts in the Stands when their child registers for hockey.
It’s not the first time parents involved in hockey on the North Shore have been called out for off-ice penalties.
Two years ago, a father of a 10-year-old Burnaby Winter Club player received a conditional discharge after facing court charges for threatening another ten-year-old player at the Karen Magnussen Arena in North Vancouver.
In that case, court heard the father snapped after the player punched his son.
A 45-year-old West Vancouver hockey dad was also charged with assault for an off-ice scuffle that broke out between fans at an AAA bantam minor hockey playoff game in March 2015 at the Hollyburn Country Club. Conduct at that game also resulted in a police complaint being filed about alleged off-ice behaviour by an off-duty police officer.
