To the Editor:The Bee has noted, there was surely some pushing and shoving from both sides during the incident. Newtown players were outnumbered at least two to one while it was happening. It's important to keep in perspective what the rules expect of players. Players risk major penalties for actions like assisting a teammate, even if that teammate is significantly outnumbered and overwhelmed referees are unable to help. Players may not engage out of self-defense, even when outmanned and being struck. Referees make best efforts to apply judgment, but a player still might receive a major penalty even if trying to calm things down. From what I saw and know of the event's review, several Newtown players who were only trying to diffuse the situation were assessed major penalties. The same is probably true for the opposing side.

The Newtown High School ice hockey team had its opportunity to play for the State Championship stripped away this week because of a technical rules violation related to major penalties. Terms like "major penalty" may conjure up stereotypical images of the professional hockey of days long past when brawling was commonplace. Be assured, those images do not apply. As I watched the Newtown team this season through the plastic glass partitions of rinks around the state, what I saw was class.

Newtown played 900 minutes of regulation time and 12 minutes of overtime without a single fighting or player game disqualification penalty. The exclusion from States came down to a half minute span after the end of the last game. A rule arguably designed to prevent repeated infractions over the entire season was none-the-less invoked. 912 minutes of play, countless hours of practice, balancing homework, traveling to and from the rink, and in a blink of eye (0.05 percent of all game time to be exact) everything comes to an abrupt end.

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A fraction of a minute out of a thousand. One less penalty assessment in a judgment call situation and they're still in States. If only, but no. Players, managers, and coaching staff have accepted this bitterly disappointing outcome with the same class and character displayed all season. Seniors, who did so much to help earn the 3 seed, miss out on a last States. These same players suffered the indignity of banishment from the rink to watch their teammates play a conference semifinal. Still, they cheered their teammates on from afar and stoically accepted the finality of it with class and dignity. I watched that semifinal - played without these key seniors. Newtown won in an upset. The heart, commitment, and will to win for those not on the ice was palpable on the other side of the glass. This team is composed of student-athletes of whom we can be proud.

While I can't help but question whether the punishment fits any crime committed here, I have no doubt that the Newtown hockey program consistently operates with high standards of sportsmanship and character.

Dennis Brestovansky, PhD

11 Longview Heights Road, Newtown         March 6, 2017