Referee Kirk Wood never even saw him coming.
Near the end of the third period of last Saturday’s game between the Chilliwack Chiefs and the Surrey Eagles, a loose puck resulted in a dangerous hit on the referee. Surrey defenseman Latrell Charleson collided with Wood, knocking him into the boards as time expired.
Charleson was given a game misconduct for the hit. He was apologetic after the game, saying:
For those who have seen the video of me running into the ref, I’d like to say it was not intentional and I meant in no way to hurt the ref.
After the game I apologized to the ref and we shook hands. All ended well.
I did not intentionally do this.. You can clearly see he starts to stop as I look forward…
Surrey play-by-play announcer Justin Morissette also weighed in via Twitter:
Latrell hung back on the ice after his teammates headed to the room to talk with the ref. Official apologized to him for getting in the way.
— Justin Morissette (@JustinMoris) February 15, 2015
Ref gave him a pat on the shoulder and they resolved things pretty amicably. Charleson maintains contact was not intentional or malicious.
— Justin Morissette (@JustinMoris) February 15, 2015
Morissette also reported that Surrey head coach Blaine Neufeld was under the impression that the referee understood that the contact was accidental.
While it seems that Charleson and referee Kirk Wood have made amends, it remains to be seen whether the BCHL will pursue disciplinary action.
For referee Kirk Wood, this is not his only recent run-in with a player. A few weeks back he was slashed by Trail Smoke Eaters forward Charlie Zuccarini — a move that saw Zuccarini suspended for the remainder of the season. For Wood’s sake, let’s hope his player interactions are a bit more peaceful from here on out.
