Marty McSorley

Marty McSorley was convicted of assult on Oct 6 1988. The assult happened on the ice one night with 3 seconds left in the game. When Brashear, the Canucks tough guy, was skating into his own end with back to McSorley. McSorley who has logged the equivalent to 21 + days in the penalty box in his 17 seasons, skated up behind Brashear and slashed at his upper body, the blade caught him in the side of the head. The NHL and the Canadian courts got together to make a ruling on the assult charges. Hilary Findley, a lawyer, said that if McSorley is found guilty but receives a light sentence or absolute discharge, the message could be that "very little weight is given to this kind of thing within the sporting arena.

For those of you that didn't know what an absolute discharge is, it's a sentence whereby the accused is discharged rather than convicted, even though the charge is proven, or the plea is guilty

The courts found him guilty of the assult but gave him a conditional discharge and therefore he had got no criminal record. He wont have to serve any jail time if he completes 18 months of probation, he will also have to pay a heavy fine of $72 000. If a regular citizen had been convicted of this crime he would have gotten 18 months in prison.

Again for those who might not know, a conditional discharge is a discharge with certain conditions; such as probation, attached; if conditions are violated, the offender can be brought back to court and given the original sentence on the charge.

He testifies that "I tried to hit him on the shoulder to provoke him into a fight, even though there was only 3 seconds left in the game"

The Judge of McSorley's case, The honorable William Kitchener, was quoted in saying "Brashear was struck as intended. A slash to the head. A child swinging at a tee-ball, would not miss. A housekeeper swinging a carpet-beater would not miss. And an NHL player wound never, ever miss."