An Edmonton family is speaking out after their 13-year-old son’s arm was broken in two places at the end of a bantam hockey game.
The incident occurred March 18, when two Southwest Zone Oil Kings teams were facing off against each other in playoffs at the Kinex Arena in St. Albert.
READ MORE: Hockey Edmonton suspends parents following fights with officials
With just a few seconds left on the clock, Jevon-Tae Robertson broke through coverage towards the opposing team’s goaltender.
“Two of the kids came up and sandwiched him on the ice and started slashing his arm with their hockey sticks,” explained Jevon-Tae’s mother, Melanie Robertson.
Jevon-Tae said he was in shock when he was hit.
“I just dropped in pain because I noticed what happened. I just crouched down and was holding my arm,” he said.
All of this allegedly happened after the final buzzer as teams were clearing their benches and wasn’t seen by the referees – so there was no call on the ice.
“We knew it was bad because he was really bawling and in a lot of pain. That’s not like him. He shakes things off pretty easy,” Melanie said.
Jevon-Tae’s team won, eliminating the other team from the playoffs.
“I think they meant to slash me, but I don’t think they meant to do this,” said Jevon-Tae, sitting on a couch with a cast around his arm.
When Jevon-Tae took his glove off after the game, he said his hand was limp. X-rays taken at the Stollery Children’s Hospital showed he suffered two broken bones – one in his arm, and one in his wrist. His injuries are in the unprotected space between his elbow pad and his glove.
“I was angry, I’m not going to lie, I was angry,” said Jevon-Tae’s father, Chris Robertson.
“There is some pushing, there is some bumping here and there, but full-on hacking and attacking like that, that’s not hockey. It shouldn’t be tolerated.”
With a cast on his left arm, left-handed Jevon-Tae has trouble writing and can’t play the sports he loves – at least for a few months.
“I can’t play basketball, hockey or go skiing,” he said.
“He had to miss the gold medal game the next day,” Melanie said. “He had to miss a hockey tournament in Calgary this weekend. He’s in hockey academy at school so he’s out of that for a couple months and we had to pull him out of three on three spring hockey.”
A letter from Jevon-Tae’s pediatrician confirmed the likely cause of his injuries – in part, it reads:
The doctor also went on to write that it was important the incident be looked into further.
Chris and Melanie have filed a complaint with Hockey Edmonton, unsure if the two players they believe slashed their son even know the extent of his injuries.
Dean Hengel, the executive director of Hockey Edmonton, said the incident report was received earlier this week.
“Like we do with all Good of the Game reports, what we do is open an investigation and ensure that we do a complete, thorough and timely review and if it leads to sanctions we issue those in a timely manner as well.”
Meanwhile, the Southwest Zone Hockey Association , which both teams play for, is doing it’s own investigation. They’re currently interviewing witnesses to gather information about what exactly happened – as there’s no video of the game.
“That would go to our discipline committee, and they would review the information that was available and at that point issue their decision,” said Southwest Zone president Larry Shaben.
“The sanctions that we would be able to hand down in any situation would be limited to suspensions.”
Jevon-Tae has his own idea of what a fair punishment might be.
“Jevon-Tae says they should have to wear a cast as long as he has to wear a cast!” his mom joked.
What the Robertson’s are really after, is an apology and some sort of repercussions for the players in question.
“I just hope they learn what they did was wrong and it’s not acceptable. I’m hoping as a result of this there are some kind of consequences for what they did. If it was anywhere else it’s assault with a weapon,” Melanie said. “You’re all there to have fun, make that what it’s all about. Don’t make it about dirty hits and retaliating when you lose at the end of the game.”
Comments