Ice hockey is an obviously violent sport for the players, with players who lay down the law (with their fists or sticks) often known as enforcers, and injuries being part and parcel of the game. However, officials, especially announcers off the ice, didn’t sign up for the jabs and slashes, so when a fan at a recent AHL game took their rage out on the game’s announcer, onlookers and listeners alike were shocked, to say the least!
Here’s the scene: it was a peaceful AHL playoff game where the Abbotsford Canucks faced off against the Colorado Eagles in game 5 of their five-game series, and in the later period of the game, where the Canucks were already leading 2-0, the announcer started to say something a little confusing.
“Got some yahoo-chap chirping at me from behind,” announcer Brandon Astle was heard saying through the mic, declaring the presence of a strange fan in his booth, “Get outta here before calling for security.” Astle continued, “What is he doing? Security! Try that again. I’m fired up; he threw my chair at me. Hit me right in the back of the leg. Like, what was he doing here? Unreal, have another beer!”
The announcer for the Abbotsford Canucks got attacked by a fan mid-game broadcast and the fan allegedly threw a chair at him
(h/t AggPuck-303/reddit) pic.twitter.com/qYyxShhriB
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 27, 2025
While it was clear from Astle’s statement through the mic and across the broadcast that no serious damage was done, it was still really worrying to know that an inebriated fan was able to get into the announcers’ booth and attempt a potentially violent attack. Thankfully no one was hurt, but hockey fans, especially in the minor leagues, need to calm down!
Fans taking their rage out on hockey officials in the minor leagues, well before Abbotsford Canucks incident
While it’s rarer for fans to act out in person in the NHL, maybe because of heightened security, some fans have been acting out in the minor leagues for a while now, believe it or not. It didn’t all start with this guy in the announcers booth at the Canucks game; in fact, some fans have gotten so aggressive in their antics that AHL authorities have had to change career paths altogether to avoid them!
Back in 2016, a Charlotte County official literally quit after a misjudgment over the number of players on the ice caused fans to surround him on the ice and throw threats and insults. “The screaming and yelling, the cursing and swearing, saying things that, well, I don’t want to repeat what they said … and threatening comments toward us as well,” Jason Porter, the former referee, said, referring to the situation, which clearly was tense enough for him to leave his job over it!
Then, back in February of this year at a 12U game in Seattle, one of the players’ fathers entered the ice during a fight and started to attack the refs who were 12 and 14 years old! One of them was pushed to the ice and suffered a sore hip and neck; luckily, he remained conscious and there were no serious head injuries. While the father said he was trying to defend his kid and break up the fight that was already occurring, this sort of behavior is totally unacceptable.
And then, in the NHL, while fans haven’t been known to attack officials as widely as in the smaller leagues, they have been known to attack each other. Earlier this year, when the Edmonton Oilers (now likely contenders for the Stanley Cup) won 3-0 against the Las Vegas Golden Knights, a fight between fans took place in the parking lot, with a viral video showing one fan beating another with a rod!
So yes, the Abbotsford Canucks beat Colorado 5-0 and will now head into the Calder Cup semifinals against the Texas Stars, but wins and losses and playoffs aside, fans need to start learning how to watch the game without getting involved in the fights!
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