The Harbour Grace town council is barring Clarenville Caribous player Justin Pender from entering the Danny Cleary arena for an indefinite period following a violent off-ice confrontation between Pender and a Cee Bees fan at the Danny Cleary arena.
The fan involved is also barred from entering the facility for the next few weeks.
Pender, a defenceman on the Clarenville Caribous, had just been ejected from a chippy game against the Conception Bay CeeBees on October 26th when some fans approached him in the hallway leading to the locker room.
Pender was handed a three-game suspension by the league.
Surveillance video shows the fans engaging with Pender from a distance as he walks up the hallway. Pender responds by throwing part of his broken stick at the scattering fans.
One of the fans stays put, and the video shows Pender throwing punches repeatedly at the fan.
Mayor Don Coombs understands that there is talk of other events surrounding the incident, but he has to stick with what was caught on camera. He says taunting is a part of the game, but in this case, things went too far.
“It shouldn’t go in the stands,” Coombs told Tim Powers on VOCM. “We all get some taunting; that happens to good players, it happens to bad players but, you have to learn to control that.”
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The Harbour Grace town council is gathering this afternoon to determine their next course of action following a violent off-ice confrontation between a player on the Clarenville Caribous and a Cee Bees fan at the Danny Cleary arena.
Mayor Don Coombs says there will be consequences, but he won’t say at this time what exactly council is considering.
Justin Pender, a defenceman on the Clarenville Caribous, had just been ejected from a chippy game against the Conception Bay CeeBees on October 26th when some fans approached him in the hallway leading to the locker room.
Surveillance video shows the fans engaging with Pender from a distance as he walks up the hallway. Pender responds by throwing part of his broken stick at the fans who scatter.
One of the fans stays put, and the video shows Pender throwing punches repeatedly at the fan.
Mayor Don Coombs says the arena is run by the town, but in the absence of a stadium manager, action is being taken by the town council to deal with the matter. There will be repercussions says Coombs.
Coombs will announce council’s decision this afternoon on the Tim Powers Show on VOCM.
