'No room in hockey' for assault on referee in New Kensington, players say

Adult recreational hockey league players and referees said Thursday a player who allegedly assaulted a referee in an adult league game at Pittsburgh Ice Arena in New Kensington should be dealt with harshly.

The incident happened Friday at the Craigdell Road arena. Jeremy Gregory Gilbert, 43, of Buffalo Township was charged with assault by New Kensington police for allegedly punching the referee repeatedly and pushing his head into the ice after the referee called a holding penalty against Gilbert.

“I was both surprised and disappointed, as there is no room for that in any league,” said Rob Madore, who plays in an adult league at Ice Castle Arena in Castle Shannon and also officiates. “In 30-plus years involved in the sport as a player, official and hockey parent, I have never personally witnessed physicality between a player and an official. I can honestly say that I never went into a game thinking what happened at New Ken was even a possibility.”

There was common agreement among those who spoke to the Trib on Thursday that officials in all leagues, including those in suburban Pittsburgh, Delmont, New Kensington and Greensburg, should work together to ban players who physically attack referees. Otherwise they will jump from rink to rink to find a place to play.

Anthony Viola, who plays in an adult league in Mt. Lebanon, said emotions can get ramped up when the competitive juices start to flow, even as adults. However, he said, that’s no excuse.

“We all need to be mindful of the fact that most of us are getting up the next day for work,” said Viola, who also coaches youth hockey and works as a ref. “There’s no Stanley Cup at the end of the season or game. So, you have to keep it in perspective, is what it really comes down to.”

Sean Cogis, the director of adult leagues at Baierl Ice Complex in Warrendale, said there is only one appropriate form of discipline for dealing with a player who attacks an official.

“If it was somebody in my league that did that, they would never set foot in the rink again,” Cogis said. “My hope would be that he was so drunk he wasn’t able to think straight. If he wasn’t, and that’s the way the guy thinks, I don’t think he’s going to find a place to play around Pittsburgh anywhere.”

Other adult league officials agreed.

“If someone would have attacked my ref, I also would have called the police and they would have a lifetime ban,” said Lauren Brink, commissioner of a private summer league in Mt. Lebanon who is captain of teams at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry and the Baierl Ice Complex.

“I can understand how situations can get heated and people can react without thinking or thinking rationally. But, on the other hand, this is an adult league, and we should all be at the age where we should be able to control our emotions,” Brink said.

Cogis said he’s worried that incidents like the one in New Kensington will keep people from wanting to referee in adult leagues.

“You see what’s happening in football right now, where there’s a shortage of officials because of things like this, and they have to keep making the rules more and more strict.”

Gilbert, who could not immediately be reached for comment, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Oct. 29 before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr.