TORONTO – A Russian hockey player broke her stick over an American players head at a girls hockey tournament in Hungary last week.
Holding her stick with two hands, Svetlana Starovoytova of Russia’s Spartak team whacked it across the back of West Coast Selects player Hannah Bates’ helmet during a qualifying game at the 2014 World Selects Invitational.
In a video of the incident posted to YouTube, you can see Starovoytova’s stick break as she connects with Bates’ head.
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Bates, from Michigan, drops to her knees but did not suffer any serious injuries from the hit.
She later tweeted, “Shoutout to Warrior for making Russian proof helmets that saved me from a concussion.”
According to Yahoo! Sports, the hit came after Starovoytova had already slashed Bates in the lower back.
Starovoytova was kicked out of the game and did not play in any other qualifying matches. She returned two days later for the Russia-America rematch.
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The West Coast Selects went on to win the championship for a third year in a row.
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