Tag Archives: high school hockey

Season is Over for HS Hockey Players Who Allegedly Choked Teammate in Hallway – Armstrong High School

The old “accidentally choked a teammate while just horsing around” gag. That never gets old.

Well, actually it does when teenagers are dying playing a game where you cut off oxygen to a friend until they pass out giving them a temporary high. Only sometimes people do more than pass out. According to a report from the CDC, more than 80 teens died from playing the Choking Game (aka The Fainting Game) between 1995 and 2005. So you can understand why the administration at Armstrong High School (MN) is taking seriously the accusations that three senior members of the hockey team choked a teammate in the hallway until he passed out. The trio has been suspended from school for 45 days and booted off what was supposed to be a promising team for AHS this year . . . causing an even bigger uproar.

All three boys were taken into custody (two as juveniles) and could face assault charges although, according to the rather lengthy–and heated–comments section below the story, the “victim’s” parents don’t want to press charges. The incident has community members deeply divided, with many saying that this potentially deadly practice needs to be stopped, while others claim the boys were just “horsing around” (how many times have we heard that as an excuse of hazing?) and that the punishment far exceeds the crime.

State Championship Hockey Game Marred by Brawl, Broken Jaw – Video

Video of Texas high school hockey brawlWhere does the “sport” part of fighting in hockey end, and thuggish brawling (and arrests for assault) begin? The NHL has been dealing with a barrage of cheap shots and unnecessary fighting lately, and now it looks like that attitude has migrated down to even high school teams. The most recent example at the Texas State Championship game which ended with a nasty brawl and one player getting a broken jaw in an obvious cheap shot (watch the video).

Details from the Dallas Morning News, video below:

Local amateur hockey officials will meet to determine the punishment for players involved in a nasty brawl that marred the end of a state championship game and hospitalized one player with serious injuries.

The game was played in Farmers Branch on Sunday afternoon between the club teams representing Keller and Arlington Martin high schools. Keller won the Silver League state title 9-3.  But it was the chaos that erupted in the final seconds that made news. It was captured in at least two videos that are circulating on YouTube.

One video shows Martin players slamming a pair of Keller players hard into the corner boards from behind during a scrum for the puck. A referee has his arm up to call the penalty, but a fight ensues before he has a chance. Martin senior Jeff SoRelle, who had been in the penalty box when the fight started, is then seen skating full speed into view and launching himself into Keller’s Travis Hall.

As SoRelle skates slowly away, he is leveled by a blindside hit from Keller’s Braxton Mills. Mills had been off the ice, in the spectator area, because of a penalty but returned to the ice during the brawl. In one video, he appears to leave the ice while launching into SoRelle, apparently hitting him in the head.

SoRelle was sent sprawling to the ice as officials and others rushed in to break up the brawl.

Accused Hockey Coach’s Lawyer: Man Had Sex With Underage Girls, But Wasn’t in “Position of Authority” Over Them

We’ve been covering high school coach sex scandals for a long time and this is the first time we’ve heard this defense. Used to be that adults (teachers and coaches) caught having sex with their students or players could argue that the teens were above the age of consent. Then states drafted new laws that made it a crime for a person in a “position of authority” (teacher, coach, counselor, etc) to have sex with a student, regardless of their age. Now a girls hockey coach in Minnesota is trying to get cleared of charges by letting his lawyer claim that, yes, the accused did have sex with underage female players, but that he really wasn’t in a position of authority. Bold move. Let’s see how this plays out.

Here’s more from the Worthington Daily Globe:

The attorney defending a former Park High School girls’ hockey coach accused of having sex with a pair of 16-year-old former players indicated in Washington County District court on Monday he will argue his client was not in a position of authority over the teen girls when the incident took place in 2006.

Day one in the trial of Eric Darwitz ended without interviews of prospective jurors. But during a series of motions and objections Monday Darwitz’ attorney, Earl Gray, and Assistant Washington County Attorney Michael Hutchinson previewed some issues that could arise during the trial this week in Stillwater.

Darwitz, 32, is facing charges on two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct stemming from the August 2006 incident. The fact Darwitz had sex with the two former players days after he left his post is not in question, Gray said in court. Rather, the case hinges, he said, on whether Darwitz could be considered a figure of authority to the teen girls when he allegedly purchased alcohol for the pair and then, along with another man, had sex with them at his Woodbury residence.

While the prosecution, defense and Judge William B. Ekstrum sorted out what was admissible in court from the 64-page transcript of the more than two-hour-long police interview of Darwitz conducted last year, Gray said it was important “not to lose sight of the central issue, which is whether or not (Darwitz) was in a position of authority.”

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