You’ve all probably already seen the initial brief video clip that has spread around Twitter like wildfire of Martin Pospisil of the USHL Sioux City going after a fan in the stands. The incident reminds some people of the famous Tie Domi incident, with Pospisil going after the fan who threw what appears to be some type of object at him. Many people were blaming the fans (who are not perfect either in this) for everything that happened here.
What you didn’t get though was the full story or video of what led up to the incident.
Martin Pospisil USHL Fiasco Video
In the video above (courtesy of hockeyfights.com and @HFnewsjunkie) we don’t see the initial spear that gets Pospisil sent to the box but off-screen at the:04 mark of the video, Pospisil shoves the linesman who is escorting him to the penalty box which is generally frowned upon.
While sitting in the box, Pospisil starts getting into it with fans who I’m sure were chirping him from the stands at the: 11-second mark of the video we see him get up and start yelling at them). Teammate Adam Samuelsson and what appears to be the penalty box official both get him to sit back down and calm down. That is until at the: 24-second mark where he stands up and starts yelling at the fans behind the bench and giving them the “single finger salute”.
Martin Pospisil Goes Bezerk And History Is Made
At that point, Pospisil loses it and jumps onto the bench and up on the glass towards the fans behind the penalty box. From there he loads up a Roger Clemens fastball and chucks an object at the fans behind the box and in the stands. Said object is said to be garbage thrown at him first, but you don’t see that in the video.
At this point, the linesman and box official are trying to send him to the dressing room, where Pospisil continues to engage with the fans behind the penalty box. This is where the original brief video we originally saw starts. A fan behind the bench proceeds to load up a fastball of his own and throws the object that Pospisil had originally tossed at him, back at Pospisil.
Pospisil decides to jump up on the bench and grab the glass again and this time looks like he really is ready to go Mike Milbury on the fan, but now there are enough people involved there to remove him and send him to the locker room.
According to Scott Bradford who is the play-by-play voice of the Muskegon Lumberjacks, Pospisil has been suspended 12 games by the league:
Good on the USHL for stepping in and dropping the hammer on the player and this event. Being an NHL prospect brings its own kind of pressure (Pospisil was drafted by the Flames in last year’s NHL draft in the 4th round) but his actions here only put a bigger magnifying glass on him. Hopefully, this is a learning experience for Pospisil and he’s able to rebound and move past this in a positive direction.
But for you players reading this, remember you have control of your actions and every action has a reaction. Be mindful that there are cameras everywhere nowadays and people are always watching. Chirping from fans and people in the stands will happen at every level, and while it’s not appropriate, you need to find a way to deal with it.
