Following an altercation in front of the net, Stu Holloway made a thrusting action with his stick to the groin area of his opponent, taking him to the ice.

Stu retaliated to a bump in front of the net from Paul Hickey # 8 on the show guns after the whistle with a spear to the midsection. I gave Stu match penalty and kicked him out of the game.

From Fred Brome of the Shogun: "The summary from the Referee is correct. I believe the call was correct also. Stu was "off" that game. The bump from Hickey after the play stopped was because Holloway crossed checked him in the ribs when Hickey was coming down the left wing. Hickey showed me the bruise today at my Friday morning skate. The Holloway cross check was intended to hurt or injure. Holloway also cross checked me just under the chin in from of their net and later gave me a slew-foot. He usually doesn't play dirty. Don't know what was going on that game. After Hickey bumped into Holloway to let him know that he wasn't happy with the cross check to the ribs, Holloway speared Hickey in the groin area. Hickey fell to the ice and it pretty well ended there."

From Gord Goutro of the Evaders: "I was at the game and saw the incident. As always there are more sides to a story than just what's reported, yes Stu deserved a penalty, In my mind a double minor would have been appropriate. Stu kind of used his stick to leverage the guy as he was pushing him over, no spearing but the guy went down roughly. This was after that guy was hacking our goalies glove then bumped Stu all after the whistle. I was disappointed that there was no call on their player, maybe a call would have stopped the reaction. We all know things get more ramped up in front of the net, in my mind a perfect call would have been 3 mins for them and 4 mins for us."

There is room for argument as to whether or not it was an actual spear, or an otherwise inappropriate use of the stick. In a case like this we are inclined and obligated to take the word of the referee as fact. Whether there was contact with the tip of the stick to the groin or not, there was obviously a high enough level of aggression for the official to consider an intent to injure, and therefore a Match Penalty is necessary.

The call on the ice is accepted and with comes an automatic 1 game suspension. However, as this is Stu Holloway's second suspension in the League, an additional game was added.

Hockey Canada Rule Book (2022-2024) - Hockey Canada (Rule 9.4), CARHA Rule Book (2020) - Rule 48(g)