Another egregious hockey attack

Daily Herald
Hockey player convicted of one count for stick hit

By Erin Holmes | Daily Herald Staff

Published: 9/20/2007 12:16 AM

David Micek intended to hurt his opponent when he hit him with his stick during a heated floor hockey game, a jury decided Wednesday -- but he didn't mean to cause the player permanent injury.

The split verdict, reached after two hours of deliberation, acquits the 39-year-old Schaumburg man of one charge of felony aggravated battery and convicts him of another. He'll be back in court Nov. 1 for sentencing.

Micek faces as many as five years in prison for the crime -- an offense that examines the thin line between breaking the law and breaking the rules in high-contact sports.

Prosecutors said Micek had raised his stick over his head before delivering a powerful after-the-whistle blow to an opponent during a March 5, 2006, game at Hoffman Estates' Grand Sports Arena.

The hit, which fractured the player's wrist, came after play was temporarily stopped for a penalty call against Micek, prosecutors told the jury, and it was outside the realm of normal hockey game play.

Defense attorneys argued floor hockey, like ice hockey, is an intensely physical sport that lends itself to roughhousing. Players know what they're getting into, they said, suggesting Micek's hit was like an extension of the game.

But the debate over where the game stops and crime begins was a non-issue in the jury room, said the jury foreperson, who would talk only on the condition that her name not be used. Jury members believed the witnesses had made it clear the incident at-hand "was not part of the game," she said.

On the stand Wednesday, Micek painted a picture of a confusing fight that broke out that day after the referee's whistle. He said he'd actually been hit in the back of the head, knocked to the ice face first and injured. He said he never hit the other man.

Other witnesses also depicted a melee, but said it happened after Micek delivered the hit with his stick.

Defense attorney Anthony Sassan said he was surprised by the split verdict and "obviously a little disappointed."

Micek's father, Raymond, called it a "travesty of justice."

Micek's trial was far from the first time physical mid-game encounters have made their way into the courts.

In 2004, NHL star Todd Bertuzzi pleaded guilty to an assault charge stemming from a hard hit. In 2000, a Glenbrook North High School hockey player pleaded no contest to charges he left an opponent paralyzed when he slammed him into the rink's boards.

Today, the Illinois Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments over whether an injured high school hockey player can sue two Naperville players alleged to have illegally checked him into the boards from behind in 2004.

Among the key issues is whether the check was so beyond the level of typical hockey contact that it merits legal action and liability -- on the part of the players, the coaches and the league.