Hockey goalie jailed for on-ice assault

Fort Erie man will serve 30-day sentence on weekends

A hockey goalie who destroyed another player’s face with his stick is headed to jail.

Todd Ball, 38, of Fort Erie, was sentenced by Judge Tory Colvin Wednesday to serve 30 days on weekends and one-year of probation for assault causing bodily harm.

“I feel they should have made an example out of him,” victim Ryan Cox, 27, of Fort Erie said outside the courtroom. “I just don’t want this to happen to anybody else.

“He only got 30 days for breaking someone’s face. My life has never been the same.

“I can’t feel my face. It is numb. I get bad headaches. It is hard for me to sleep. I’ve had facial surgeries and reconstructions. The sentence was too lenient. It’s an injustice. It’s ridiculous.”

The incident occurred on May 7, 2016, during the final day of the 3-on-3 Ice Hockey Challenge at Fort Erie Leisureplex.

Ball was celebrating his birthday and had been “binge drinking” since early in the morning, court was told.

Cox was on a breakaway near the end of the game. As he closed on the goal, Ball left his crease and — using two hands — swung his goal stick at Cox, smashing him square in the face.

Cox fell to the ice bleeding profusely. Niagara Emergency Medical Services paramedics took him to hospital by ambulance.

“I was just playing hockey,” Cox said. “It was a non-contact tournament for fun. I made a move on a guy and skated in and was about to take a shot.

“What upsets me is there was no reason behind it. There was no confrontation between us.”

Colvin said Ball, who wrote a letter of apology to Cox and is in counselling, has an alcohol problem.

“His memory of events of the day is spotty,” Colvin said. “Absent drinking, I doubt he would be here.”

Medical records indicate Cox suffered a concussion, a shattered nose, fractures on both sides of his nose and a fractured eye orbital.

Cox endured seven hours of surgery to rebuild his face, and the treatment isn’t complete. He has six plates holding his face together.

He has been unable to return to work as a carpenter.

Ball initially faced a much more serious charge of aggravated assault.

Assistant Crown attorney Bob Mahler recommended Colvin sentence Ball to jail for anywhere from 30 days to nine months.

Defence attorney Michael DelGobbo asked the judge to place Ball on probation — or give him a conditional discharge.

“It is tough that he has to go to jail, but it could have been much worse,” DelGobbo said outside the courtroom.

“It was a difficult case for the judge to deal with given the nature of what occurred. He is an excellent judge. The sentence fell where it fell.”

Colvin said on-ice assaults within a hockey game are challenging for the justice system.

By stepping onto the ice, players accept that they can be injured. There may be some level of violence.

The problem is differentiating between the physical nature of hockey — and criminal conduct that occurs outside the context of the game.

“In my mind, the significant fact is that this was a non-contact, fun tournament,” Colvin said. “It makes it very different from cases involving competitive play, for instance in the NHL or the AHL.

“Some violence might be expected in those games, though not so much as to bring criminal law into play.

“Mr. Cox could not have anticipated he would be hit at all, much less with a goal stick. Mr. Ball’s drinking problem and his background are an explanation, not an excuse.”

Colvin cited a pre-sentencing report about Ball in reaching his decision. Ball had no criminal record and an excellent employment history.

The report detailed Ball’s “troublesome upbringing.”

Colvin called that description an understatement.

Ball’s father was a violent, and abusive biker who spent 20 of his 44 years in prison. There were numerous police interventions at the family home, one of which resulted in a 10-hour standoff with the emergency task unit.

When Ball was 12, biker gang members beat his father to death, the report said.

“Sentencing must attempt to strike a balance between the offence and its consequences on the one side, and the offender, both good and bad, on the other side,” Colvin said.

“That balance is difficult to find. For the victim, his friends and family, no punishment can be enough.

“For the accused, his friends and family, no amount of understanding, compassion, and forgiveness is enough.”