Roy’s son headed down very slippery slope
The Quebec government has gone ahead with the decision to prosecute Jonathan Roy, the son of some goalie you may have heard of, for his involvement in a particularly violent fight during last year’s QMJHL playoffs. Roy faces an assault charge that could cost him up to $2,000 and six months in jail.
Here’s the fight in full, as opposed to just the clip of Roy kicking the christ out of that kid and flipping everyone in the building off.
[youtube="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESHa9-Czv_A"]
The “fight” was, to be fair, more a pummeling on par with what Alex and his droogs doled out at the beginning of A Clockwork Orange, but regardless, this fight took place within the context of a line brawl in a friggin’ HOCKEY GAME. Should he have gone after the opposing goalie so hard, or continued to beat him when the kid clearly had no desire to fight?
Of course not. If that had been an MMA fight, it would have been stopped far quicker than that. But this is hockey, and whether or not you’re looking to fight, you still need to engage the competitor and defend yourself. If the other goalie had done that, it wouldn’t have looked like nearly as savage a beating.
But one criminal lawyer says the Crown’s decision to proceed with charges sends a strong message that there are limits, even in contact sports where a certain level of rough and aggressive play is expected and the risk is assumed.
“The prosecution is sending a warning that while some things might be tolerated in sports, other actions won’t be tolerated,” said Montreal defence lawyer Robert La Haye. “Rough play and violence, within the norms, is permitted. But the Crown is saying this level of violence is considered reprehensible and prohibited, on or off the ice, and there are norms that shouldn’t be surpassed.”
Well that’s not a good thing. There’s no place in hockey for what happened, but the last thing any sport needs is events on the field/ice/court, short of murder or life-threatening injury, being subject to criminal charges. Someone in Quebec must be running for district attorney.
Jonathan Roy isn’t a criminal. An idiotic rockhead like his father? Absolutely. Should he be banned from playing in the QMJHL this season or in any other? You can make the argument, but he won’t be. But he’s not a criminal. The fact that he might be doing jailtime for this is ludicrous, no matter how much it helps his aspiring hip hop career via street cred.
