Sports

N.S. minor basketball league bans spectators for the weekend due to abuse of officials

Published

10 months ago

December 15, 2023

The Metro Basketball Association, a minor basketball organization in Nova Scotia, is banning spectators from weekend games in an effort to educate coaches and parents about their behaviour toward officials.

Chris Lerette, the league manager, said there has been an increase in “concerning behaviour” each week since the beginning of the season.

“These incidents seem to have become too common in our gyms each weekend, and we need to curb this behaviour immediately,” Lerette said in a letter distributed to all teams.

Banning all fans from the games will be strictly enforced as officials have been asked not to start games if anyone else is in the gym other than those listed on game sheets.

“The disrespect shown week in and week out toward officials and facilities is unexplainable,” stated Lerette. “For those parents and spectators who have decided to yell at an official or a school custodian, we hope that this weekend offers an opportunity to reflect on the impacts of their behaviour.”

In the letter, Lerette says the incidents have had a direct impact on the association with 12 officials opting to stop officiating this season. Another 25 officials did not come back from last year.

“Abuse of officials is just becoming more severe and there are more occurrences that are happening, almost to the point that it is becoming normal ,” said Matt Boyle, a veteran basketball referee who is the Halifax-area assigner for officials. “The rate of these incidents is alarming and this step the organization is taking is to spread some awareness.”

Wide array of abuse

Boyle says the issue of abuse of officials is very serious and there has been a wide variety of it.

“Officials are physically being abused or bullied, there have been threats of physical abuse after games,” said Boyle. “People have even been labelled racist and those kinds of comments are super harmful on people’s mental health.”

Boyle says last weekend there were eight instances where spectators had to be removed from the gym.

The rate of incidents has become alarming. In 250 games, there have been over 50 complaints filed regarding coach and fan behaviour.

Reaction mixed

Parents have had mixed reactions. Stephen Wenztell’s daughter plays with the Cole Harbour Rockets.

“When I first heard about it I was actually very upset because I was going to miss my daughter’s game, and those games on Saturday have kind of become my favourite thing that happens all week,” said Wentzell, whose daughter just started playing in the league this year.

“But after thinking about it a bit I think I’m totally on board with this drastic measure to try and get it under control. Something had to be done.”

Kelsey Green has coached in the league and has had three kids play in it, including one that still plays. He does not support banning parents from games.

“I think it’s heavy-handed and poorly thought out,” Green said. “I’ve been in gyms for years and I haven’t seen anything that would lead me to believe all parents should be banned.”

Comments ‘way over the top’

Ed McHugh has refereed over 4,700 games over 51 years and is still officiating. He supports banning parents from games for a weekend.

“The comments are personal and they’re hurtful, and they’re abusive. They aren’t just parents saying, ‘Hey ref, you missed a travel.’ The language is far worse and it’s way over the top, full of anger.”

When play resumes in the new year, spectators will again be allowed into the gym, but the situation will be monitored closely to see if further action is required.

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Sports

Teravainen nets four points as Blackhawks beat winless Oilers 5-2

Published

4 hours ago

October 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

EDMONTON – Teuvo Teravainen had two goals and two assists and Connor Bedard had a goal and two assists as the Chicago Blackhawks captured their first victory of the season, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday.

Seth Jones also had a goal and two assists in his 800th career NHL game and Philipp Kurashev scored the other goal for the Blackhawks, who improved to 1-1-1 on the season.

Corey Perry and Leon Draisaitl scored for the Oilers, who fell to 0-2 to start the season on the heels of making it all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final last season before losing out to the Florida Panthers. Edmonton has been outscored 11-2 in its first two games.

Petr Mrazek had 35 saves in the Chicago net, while Calvin Pickard made 15 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Blackhawks: Former Oiler Taylor Hall now has eight points (2G, 6A) in 12 career games against the team that drafted him first overall in 2010, picking up an assist on Chicago’s first-period goal. There were four former first overall picks playing in the contest in Hall and Bedard for the Hawks and Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for Edmonton. Nugent-Hopkins picked up his 700th career point in the contest.

Oilers: Oilers defenceman and Edmonton-area product Brett Kulak suited up for his 500th career NHL game. The 30-year-old has been a mainstay since arriving from Montreal at the 2023 NHL trade deadline, playing in all 183 regular-season and 53 playoff games that he could. He has recorded an even 100 points in his career.

KEY MOMENT

The Blackhawks took a two-goal lead with six minutes to play in the middle frame as Bedard used a defender as a screen before ripping a perfect shot glove-side past Pickard for his first of the season.

KEY STAT

With his third period power-play goal, Oilers forward Draisaitl now has a 16-game point streak (13-18-31) against Chicago dating to Oct. 28, 2018 and passed teammate Connor McDavid (15-game streak versus New Jersey) for the NHL’s longest active point streak against one opponent.

UP NEXT

Blackhawks: Wrap up a four-game road trip in Calgary against the Flames on Tuesday.

Oilers: Host the Flames on Sunday in the third game of a season-starting four-game set at home.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.

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Sports

Huberdeau scores twice, Wolf has 37 saves in Flames’ 6-3 win over Flyers

Published

4 hours ago

October 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – Jonathan Huberdeau had two goals and two assists for the Calgary Flames in a 6-3 win in their home-opener over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Nazem Kadri scored twice, including an empty-netter with MacKenzie Weegar and Mikael Backlund each contributing a goal for Calgary (2-0-0).

Flames goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 37 of 40 shots in his season debut.

Travis Konecny scored twice, including one short-handed, and Joel Farabee also had a goal for Philadelphia (1-1-0).

Flyers starter Ivan Fedotov made 27 saves in his first start of the season.

The Flyers played their second road game in as many nights to start their season after a 3-2 shootout win over the Canucks in Vancouver.

The Flames overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Canucks 6-5 in overtime to start their season Wednesday.

TAKEAWAYS

Flyers: Slow start after beating Vancouver in a shootout 24 hours earlier, but scored twice in the second period and trailed by a goal heading into the third.

Flames: Wolf was the difference early stopping all 18 shots he faced in the first period and 37 overall. Calgary’s first goal that deflected off Huberdeau’s shoulder was lucky, but the winger set up Weegar perfectly for a one-timer and a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, assisted on a pair of power-play goals and generated the Flames’ fifth goal.

KEY MOMENT

The Flames converted a five-on-three in the second period into Kadri’s power-play goal and a two-goal lead. Wolf reached back into his crease during a scramble to clear the puck and deny Konecny a potential equalizing goal midway through the third period.

KEY STAT

Philadelphia’s power play, which was the worst in the NHL last season, was 1-for-4 on Saturday and 2-for-8 after two games. Calgary’s went 2-for-5 to be 4-for-9 after two games.

UP NEXT

Flames: Finish a back-to-back weekend on Sunday in Edmonton against the Oilers.

Flyers: Follow the Flames into Edmonton on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.

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Sports

Caufield scores twice, Canadiens beat Senators 4-1

Published

5 hours ago

October 12, 2024

Anne Joseph

MONTREAL – The Montreal Canadiens grabbed a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Emil Heineman and Cole Caufield and went on to beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Saturday at the Bell Centre.

After Alex Newhook boosted the Canadiens’ lead to 3-0 early in the third period, Tim Stutzle ended Sam Montembeault’s bid for a second consecutive shutout. Montembeault, who made 48 saves in a season-opening win over Toronto, made 24 saves.

Caufield completed the scoring with his second goal of the game and fourth of the season as the Canadiens improved to 2-1, while the Senators slipped to 1-1.

Montreal defenceman Mike Matheson was awarded a penalty shot when he was upended by Jake Sanderson on a rush to the net during a third-period power play. Linus Ullmark, who finished the game with 21 saves, got a piece of the shot which hit the post and went wide.

TAKEAWAYS

The Canadiens won the battle of special teams. Heineman scored a power-play goal with one second remaining in the advantage as Montreal went 1-for-4 with the extra man. Ottawa failed to score on four power plays and were held to three shots on goal.

KEY MOMENT

After facing only four shots in the first period, Montembeault was under pressure in the second period when the Senators outshot the Canadiens 12-3.

KEY STAT

The Canadiens have had one of the worst power plays in the NHL over the past three seasons and the outlook for this season wasn’t bright after the team went 0-for-30 in the pre-season. But Heineman scored his first NHL goal on a power play in the first period to give Montreal a power-play goal in each of its first three regular-season games.

UP NEXT

Senators: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Monday afternoon.

Canadiens: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.

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