From the "Strange, but True" files...

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From CBC.ca:

Being beaten up during a hockey game may have been the best thing to happen to Saskatchewan referee Dale Neudorf.

If a player hadn't cross-checked him in the face with a hockey stick on Sunday and sent him to hospital, doctors may never have discovered the large tumour in his brain.

Doctors spotted the growth while taking an X-ray and a CT scan of Neudorf's brain to make sure he wasn't seriously injured in the on-ice attack near the northern community of Meadow Lake.

From Canada.com:

The concussion has left Neudorf with no memory of the assault at a recreational tournament on the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation, a reserve about 350 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.

The assault occurred during a game between Waterhen and Pelican Lake First Nations teams in a tournament that didn't allow contact.

According to a Pelican Lake player, who wishes to remain unnamed, Waterhen player Nolan Crighton, 21, was involved in several physical altercations and showed signs of inebriation throughout the game before Neudorf ejected him. Crighton responded with profanities and then used his hockey stick to cross-check Neudorf in the face with a force that drove his head into the boards, according to the player. Nolan is said to have then jumped on the unconscious referee and crosschecked him about four more times until other players pulled him away.

"I don't know if there's any part of me that's mad. People have to live with the consequences of the decisions they make," said Neudorf, who had refereed the player in minor hockey for almost a decade. "Holding a grudge doesn't do anyone any good."

Nolan's father Alan Crighton said his son is a known scrapper, but going after a referee is out of his character.

Crighton remains at-large despite an RCMP arrest warrant that includes charges of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.

So, was Todd Bertuzzi doing Steve Moore a favour by assaulting him from behind? 0_o

It's nice to see this story has a happy ending of sorts, but perhaps there should be steps in place to stop players from playing DRUNK.

Labels: human interest, referees, Violence