Here’s a novel and deplorable way to earn yourself -- and your national team -- some worldwide disrepute.
The video you see above was taken from idyllic yet chilly Estonia, which is hosting the 2013 Under-18 boys hockey world championship tournament. While these tournaments tend to be back burner events here in the U.S., they are a very, very big deal in Europe, where the likes of Russia, Finland and Sweden realize they represent their best chance at winning a world title at something.
Evidently they take it very seriously in Lithuania as well (that is part of Europe, after all) because Lithuanian forward Danielius Nomanovas reacted to a 3-2 loss to Great Britain in the most inappropriate and inexcusable way possible: He hurled his stick at a referee, with a heck of a lot of velocity, at that.
As you can see in the video above, the shot was most definitely felt by the referee, who went down to a knee so he could clutch his shoulder after Nomanovas’ stick drilled him in the upper body. The attack also elicited a rapid response from a British player, though he was kept from getting to Nomanovas by another ref.
There has been no official word yet about what will happen to Nomanovas, either within the Lithuanian federation or the larger hockey community. He may still be a minor, but there would be no surprise if this incident essentially ended his international career, if not his career in whole.
If’s he’s going to attack referees, he deserves that, too.
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