The laws over there might be more strict.
Canada has charged players criminally before.
“The laws over there might be more strict.”
Pro ice hockey is still one of the sports that for rules purposes is still intertwined with amateur competitions in a lot of ways. Major sports like hockey, baseball, football, golf, and basketball have not changed their basic premise since they were invented. And too many times rules have been changed or re-interpreted to assist the game that were really stupid.
Probably the worst example was in NCAA basketball in the early 80’s. Around Christmas time when a lot of college tournaments were on the NCAA decided to change the rule on intentional fourth quarter fouls making any foul intentional, two shots instead of one and one if made. They did this to take the judgement part out of the call. I called part of the Great Alaska Shootout and what it accomplished was the fouling player had to make sure the shot didn’t get off to create a three point possibility. Sooo, the shooter got knocked into the third row and if the defender was making a legitimate effort to go for the steal and there was contact, no flagrant, just a contact foul. A lot of shooters got deposited on the seats, some knocked silly, so the rule was changed back in February. Never know about rules. Tnhey may not be what they seem.
wy69