Winthrop laser pointer dad accused of other offenses

WINTHROP, Mass. (WHDH) -- A local high school hockey team returned to the ice Saturday night but a fan accused of pointing a laser at an opposing goalie at a previous game was not allowed into the rink. The Winthrop team ended up losing their playoff game Saturday night but some think they shouldn’t have even had the chance to play in the game.

The MIAA decided that the Winthrop girl’s hockey team would continue their playoff run even after a Winthrop father shined a laser pointer into the eyes of the opponent’s goalie.

7News learned that this was not the first time the Winthrop father had been accused of shining a laser pointer into an opponent’s eyes during a hockey game. The man was taken out of the stands earlier in the week when the goalie from Medway-Ashland complained that someone was shining a beam of green light in her face.

Medway lost the game 3-1 and MIAA officials decided that the final score would stand and that the game would not be replayed. The MIAA apparently has known about this father before. This time last year, Wilmington’s coach complained to them that a player on his team was having a light shined in her eyes.

That coach said that he was told that the father was escorted out of the rink that day and he was told that they would handle the situation.

“They looked into it and found out who it was and said it wouldn’t happen again,” said Joe McMahon, former Wilmington coach.

McMahon said he can’t imagine why someone would do something like that.

“And that was the last I heard of anything, I thought it was taken care of and then I saw the news the other night and it’s just, I can’t comprehend a parent doing that. You know, it’s too bad, it embarrasses the child and I have no idea why somebody would want to do that,” said McMahon.

McMahon said that he thinks the repercussions should have been stiffer and he said he would have liked to see the two teams replay the game.

“Who knows what could have happened with the game, it may have not made any difference, I know it wouldn’t have made any difference in the outcome of my game, we lost 5-0 but that’s not what this is all about,” said McMahon.

The decision also upset Medway’s goalie who doesn’t understand how that would be fair punishment.

“They didn’t really take an action, I mean escorting him out of course but people get escorted out for yelling too but this person tried to hurt us,” said Katherine Hamer, the Medway goalie.

With Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Braintree, Winthrop’s season is now over too.

“There’s a locker room that is very happy and there’s a locker room that’s very disappointed, their whole year came down to this game,” said a parent.

“When I started coaching about 30 years ago we had to tell the parents to watch the kids, now we have to tell the kids to watch the parents,” said McMahon.

There is concern that laser pointers, like the one the parent used, could damage the eyes. The Medway goalie went to the doctor after the game just to be safe.

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