Referee Nikita Tikhonov was on the receiving end of a baseball swing-style attack from an adult amateur player in Belarus who disagreed with his call — for abuse of officials.
During a November 29 match between Armeec and Dorojnik, Tikhonov assessed a 10-minute penalty to Armeec’s Sergey Petrov. Petrov objected to the call. The skater swung his stick, hitting Tikhonov in the head. He also punched the official, all while cursing and threatening Tikhonov, according to the official report from the Disciplinary Committee of Hockey Federation of the Republic of Buryatia.
The committee levied the following punishments:
- Ban Sergey Petrov from the league and any other league in Belarus
- Disband the Armeec team, distributing all players to other teams
- Suspend two Armeec players for five matches (With Armeec disbanded, they’ll be serving this time with their new clubs)
According to a translation of the audio from Reddit, the initial call was for charging and abuse of the official.
“Are you crazy?” asked the penalized player prior to the stick slash. “I’m just skating to you and you give me ten minutes? Do I need to punch you in the face?”
As for Tikhonov? He’s lucky to be okay, and probably glad to have been wearing a camera.
(Thanks to PuckDaddy and r/hockey for the scoop)
