The Valaisan Didier Massy (62 years old) was a professional hockey player (Swiss champion with Lugano), sports director and head coach. Since 2007, he has refereed professional matches in Switzerland and abroad. This season, he comments on game facts related to refereeing for lematin.ch
Sakari Manninen, the Genève-Servette HC player who handed out a cross-check to linesman Georges Huguet on Wednesday evening during the National League match against Zug, will take a heavy hit.
Or in any case must receive a long suspension.
I don’t see what arguments he can use to make people believe that his action was accidental. This has nothing to do with the scene where Toni Rajala, from HC Bienne, grabbed a referee’s visor without realizing that it was a game director because his view was obstructed.
Manninen knew very well what he was doing and who he was hitting.
Which is simply unacceptable.
It is important to realize that a referee does not wear the same protective gear as a player. Such a load can lead to serious consequences for a man’s health and life.
Since I started refereeing, I have only witnessed a similar act once. It was a long time ago in Davos. A foreign player, a Canadian whose name I forgot, had pushed a colleague who ended up on the ground. He was suspended for 5 or 7 matches.
This may not seem like much compared to the sanctions imposed in the NHL for such actions. But it’s correct if we take into consideration the number of matches that appear on the regular season calendar, which is shorter here than in North America.
There is still one element that I don’t understand. Why this player? The Finns rather convey an image of hockey players who are respectful and harmless to the referees…
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