A British Columbia man has been acquitted of aggravated assault and uttering threats after an altercation during a beer league hockey game left another player with serious head injuries. Michael Morin, 39, was charged after striking Josef Geluch, 43, in the face with the blade of his stick with 40 seconds remaining in an Adult Safe Hockey League game in Burnaby, B.C., on June 4, 2024. Geluch suffered a concussion, facial lacerations and multiple broken teeth, requiring medical and dental treatment. The referee testified that the game “quickly got out of hand,” with both teams “actively involved in chirping the other team,” provincial court Judge Gregory Rideout noted in his decision. ‘Stick became a weapon’ Several penalties were called during the game as a “high degree of animosity” led to frequent physical contact, the judge wrote. During the first period, Geluch was penalized for striking Morin in the head from behind. Geluch testified that Morin responded by telling him, “I’m going to take your f---ing head off.” Morin denied making such a threat, but Crown prosecutors alleged he went on to strike his opponent in the face with his stick as retaliation for the first-period altercation. “The Crown submits the hockey stick became a weapon and it was objectively foreseeable bodily harm would result from the blow,” the judge wrote. “The Crown submits this was no accident. There was no consent to bodily harm.” Two CCTV video clips of the game were submitted as evidence, showing both interactions between the players. Morin told the court he was trying to free his stick from underneath Geluch’s when it accidentally struck his opponent in the face. McSorley-Brashear precedent Prosecutors invoked the legal precedent of R. v. McSorley, a landmark B.C. court ruling from 2000 in which former Boston Bruins defenceman Marty McSorley was convicted of assault with a weapon for striking Vancouver Canucks forward Donald Brashear in the head with his stick during a game. The ruling established that participating in a contact sport does not constitute consent to all forms of physical violence, particularly conduct that falls outside the accepted rules and norms of the game. However, Rideout found the Crown did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Morin intentionally assaulted or threatened Geluch. “It is clear hockey culture has developed in which chirping, swearing, and threatening opposing team members is the norm and not the exception,” he noted. “The complainant testified that he was alarmed by the threat. However, he did not leave the game out of personal safety concerns. He did not call the police during the intermission break. He did not complain to (the referee) concerning the threat, asking that the accused be removed from the game.” The judge found the CCTV video inconclusive, noting that the referee was too far from the altercation to establish whether Morin intended to strike Geluch with his stick.
