Hockey player René-Dave Pelchat, with the Beauce Bellechasse Frontenac senior league (LHBBF) considers himself lucky to be alive after taking a vicious two-handed slash to the head on Friday night.
Pelchat, with the Justiciers de Saint-Joseph, was skating for the puck when Louis-Philippe Carrier slashed him in the head with his stick at 12:07 in the second period.
Pelchat crumpled to the ice and lay motionless for a short time before being helped off the ice.
A video showing the attack was posted to Facebook Saturday and has quickly gone viral with close to 100,000 views.
The league issued a statement on its website Saturday saying that Carrier, who plays for the Éperviers de Bellechasse, had been suspended for a minimum of three games.
“The referee called a penalty for slashing which is an automatic three-game suspension,” the league statement reads.
A disciplinary committee with the LHBBF is looking into the incident and could decide to hand down a stiffer punishment.
The league said that despite the hit, Pelchat retruned to the game in the third period, scoring an equalizer that sent the game into overtime. Bellechasse would go on to win the game 7-6.
Pelchat told the Journal de Québec that he played despite feeling nauseous and having blurred vision and fears he might have suffered a concussion.
Pelchat has not yet filed an assault complaint with police but could still decide to do so.
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