Thursday, September 29, 2011

The Anthony Verret case: Commissioner upholds the prefect of discipline's decision

Press Release

The Commissioner of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Gilles Courteau, announced today the results of the investigation which followed the bodycheck given by Gatineau Olympiques defenseman Guillaume Rousseau to Rouyn-Noranda Huskies forward Anthony Verret on September 10th.

After taking into account the health of Anthony Verret and full medical report, the Commissioner concluded that an investigation was warranted in order to analyze the possibility of reopening a hearing by the Disciplinary Prefect.

Within the framework of his analysis, the Commissioner considered new elements not having been part of the initial enquiry: a representative of the Ontario Hockey League and the National Hockey League were consulted after viewing the video of the event and the opinions of a medical specialist and a general practitioner were also sought after they read the medical report.

Following the investigation, the Commissioner determined that:

The decision taken by the Disciplinary Prefect, Raymond Bolduc, had been in accordance with the policies and procedures of the League after he took into account all available evidence in the analysis of the incident and evaluation of the case.
Evidence resulting from all the testimonies, particularly those of the League’s officials and supervisors showed that Guillaume Rousseau, bodychecked Anthony Verret by striking him with his shoulder in the stomach and not the head.
The video of the event, studied with the help of experts in the field, produces no visible picture or angle leading to the conclusion that the impact resulting from Guillaume Rousseau’s shoulder hit was ever at Anthony Verret’s head.
The doctors’ opinion is that the facial fracture was more the result of the player hitting the ice, than a possible impact of a shoulder hit to the face, without excluding the fact that if a shoulder hit had been brought to the face it could have equally caused a fracture of this type. Both doctors had the chance to analyze the video of the event.


Although the state and nature of the facial injury suffered by Anthony Verret was a new element that required serious analysis, it does not suggest that the League’s Disciplinary Prefect ought to review the decision made on September 12th in this matter.

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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