TEENAGE P.E.I. HOCKEY PLAYER JAILED 30 DAYS FOR PUNCHING REF

An 18-year-old hockey player from P.E.I. who punched a referee twice in the face, cutting his lip, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail. Cole Trevor Crane was being escorted off the ice after a fight in the championship final between Crane’s Sherwood Falcons Midget AA minor hockey team and the North River Flames. Crane had grabbed the jersey of a linesman attempting to break up the fight, and referee John William MacDougall escorted him off the ice, taking Crane by the jersey. Crane pushed MacDougall and punched him twice before being restrained by MacDougall, a linesman and Crane’s brother. Crane, who has no prior record, pleaded guilty to assaulting MacDougall. Chief Judge Nancy Orr sentenced him to 30 days, to be served intermittently, followed by 18 months on probation. “In a lot of cases, hockey referees are volunteers.… As a society, I think we have an obligation to provide them with some protection whenever these kinds of things occur,” said Cyndria Wedge, the province’s director of prosecutions.