BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI
Two well-known hockey instructors in the West Island face
assault charges after an incident that occurred March 9 at the Dorval
Arena.
Lac St. Louis midget espoir head coach François Lacombe and
his assistant Gord Armstrong were involved in an altercation at the
conclusion of a game against the Eastern Stars that resulted in both
being taken away by police. Neither has been behind the Royals bench
since the incident.
Lacombe, 60, spent 11 years as a defenceman in the National
Hockey League, World Hockey Association and minor leagues during the
late 1960s and '70s before turning to coaching at the junior and midget
levels for the past 18 years.
Lacombe was a member of the 1976-77 Avco Cup Champion Nordiques. Ironically, he played for the Calgary Cowboys in 1975-76 and was on the ice during the notorious Jodzio-Tardif assault.
Armstrong, 54, played professionally in
Europe before returning to the West Island where he has coached at the
double-letter level for the Lakeshore Hockey Association and most
recently with the espoir Royals.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Lacombe. “We don’t have the type of a
team that reflects what happened. We’ve been near the top of the league
in Fair-Play points over the past few years. I’m not that type of a
coach and neither is Gord Armstrong. It happened so fast, that
sometimes things get out of control. That is all I can really say.”
Kevin O’Reilly, president of Hockey West Island and
vice-president of the Lac St. Louis Hockey Association, who witnessed
the entire affair, said the game itself was decided midway through the
first period, and things deteriorated after that.
“With his team trailing 4-0, either the Stars head coach lost
complete control of his team at that point, or worse, sent them out
with deliberate attempt to injure,” he said. “His players proceeded to
run the Royals players with headshots, hits to the back and two-handed
slashes to the back of the leg. There was a steady stream of players to
the penalty box until with about six minutes left in the third period,
one of their players attempted to injure a Royal. Understandably coach
Lacombe, who almost lives with these kids seven days a week, became
very upset. The player went to the penalty box and started verbalizing
towards Lacombe, who verbalized back, and then advanced towards the
penalty box and kicked a plastic garbage can towards the boy. At that
point, some of the Stars players and some of the Stars parents started
advancing towards the Royals bench. A few Royals parents then made
their way towards the scene and a melee ensured. That being said there
were no fisticuffs on the ice, no interaction between players. The game
was called at that point.”
O’Reilly said Armstrong, who allegedly speared a Stars player,
could be seen with a hockey stick in his hand, simply trying to defend
himself as the Stars players and parents began approaching the bench.
Both men are scheduled to appear in court next Tuesday. They allegedly assaulted a 15-year-old player from the opposing team.
