Italian hockey captain suspended for over a year after vicious slash on referee
Italian hockey player Nicholas Pezzetta will be regretting his choices today after the Italian Hockey League suspended him for 13 months following a slash on a referee.
Pezzetta has been seen as a promising player and rising star in Italy. At the young age of 20, he has already secured the title of captain for his team. However, what he did in his last match was not very captain-like. After a faceoff in the offensive zone, he wildly slashed at the referee's legs, sending the official down to the ice where he lay there, clearly in a lot of pain. Obviously, this kind of behavior is not just frowned upon, but it is also simply not allowed in any league whether it is a local rec league or the NHL. Clearly, they take these kinds of incidents very seriously in Italy as the league announced a 13-month suspension for the 20-year-old today.
"The Federazione Italiana Sport Invernali suspended HC Falcons Brixen/Bressanone captain Nicholas Pezzetta for 13 months after he hit a referee with his stick, 'with the intent of injuring him,' in an Italian Hockey League match."
Something odd seems to be happening in European hockey as this is not the only incident of its kind to happen this week. In France, two players were suspended from the country's pro league for 7 and 9 games respectively after they went after a referee
Being an official in any sport is always a tough job. Fans, players, and coaches are always going to complain about calls, and if you mess up in a big enough way, some individuals may even go out of their way to attempt to make your life more difficult. It is needless to be said that this kind of behavior is simply unacceptable. That being said, a 13-month suspension does seem rather harsh for this incident. Can you imagine an NHL player being suspended for more than 82 games for something like this? It is always a big deal when a player does get involved with a ref in the NHL, but we have never seen such a lengthy suspension for an official-related incident. Hopefully, that will remain that way. If you actively play sports please remember that the referees are just trying to do their jobs, and at the recreational level, the vast majority are unpaid volunteers, often working games with little or no help. Take it easy on them.
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