Patrice Cormier pleads not guilty to assault charge
Atlanta Thrashers prospect Patrice Cormier, whose actions helped open up the debate on head shots in the National Hockey League last year has pleaded not guilty to an assault charge. The
charge came as a result of Cormier throwing a vicious and deliberate elbow to the head of Mikael Tam during a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game last season.
Cormier was not in court in the town of Rouyn-Noranda on Monday, but the plea was entered on his behalf from his lawyer. The case is scheduled to resume on 19 October.
The incident occurred in Rouyn-Noranda, a town in northwestern Quebec last January during a QMJHL game between the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and the Quebec Remparts. Cormier, who was playing
for the Huskies was given a match penalty for the blow to the head. Immediately after the elbow, Tam, a Remparts defenceman collapsed to the ice and was convulsing. He was eventually taken off the ice on a stretcher and spent the night at a local hospital
before returning to the lineup a short time after.
As a result of his careless act, the QMJHL later suspended Cormier for the rest of his junior career. Cormier began the season playing for the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL where he played
28 games before being dealt to the Huskies. Cormier then played just three games for the Huskies before the incident.
Originally from Moncton New Brunswick, Cormier was the captain of Canada’s world junior team in 2010, helping Canada claim the silver medal just a few days before the incident occurred.
Cormier was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the second round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft with the 54th pick. A few weeks after his suspension, Cormier was dealt to the Atlanta Thrashers
as part of the deal that brought Ilya Kovalchuk to the New Jersey Devils last February.