A 17-year-old minor league hockey player has been charged with aggravated assault after allegedly spearing an opponent during a game in Clareview in January.
16-year-old Austin Hoekstra was allegedly jabbed by the butt end of a stick, causing a rupture in his bowels and bruising his pancreas.
After enduring over three hours of surgery, father Tom Hoekstra stated that Austin had to miss nearly a month of school.
On Jan. 12, Austin's Midget AA Raylin MFG team was taking on the Re/Max Leduc Oil Kings Midget AA team at the Clareview Arena.
Although the teams had previously played against each other, Austin states that a Leduc player he noticed before bumped and asked him to fight.
"The kid's half a foot shorter than me, so I said: 'Yeah right.'" Austin recalls.
After the whistle blew, the players were making their way back to the bench when Austin says the other player skated up to him and speared him in the stomach, jabbing him between his hockey pants and chest pads.
Austin's father Tom says when Austin was helped onto the bench he immediately started vomiting.
The assault was reported to police on Jan.15, and police are still investigating what interaction took place between the two teenagers.
After additional investigations by Hockey Alberta the other teen has also been suspended from the league indefinitely.
With files from The Edmonton Journal
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