MANNHEIM – Norwegian captain Tommy Jakobsen has been suspended for the rest of the 2010 IIHF World Championship for an abuse-of-official incident in Friday's Canada-Norway game.
According to the report of the IIHF Disciplinary Panel, the incident took place with 2:46 remaining in the second period. In a hearing after the game, Jakobsen stated to the panel that he was angry that a Canadian player was not given a slashing penalty in a scrum in front of the Norwegian net.
Jakobsen spoke to the referee close to the penalty box about this matter. He then skated toward the centre ice faceoff dot, where he made shoulder-to-shoulder contact with the other referee. He did not stop, but continued to skate toward the Norwegian bench. Jakobsen received a match penalty for this incident.
Contrary to Jakobsen's assertion that the contact was accidental, the panel's opinion based on a video review of the incident was that said contact was deliberate in nature.
This is the basis for Jakobsen's suspension for the remainder of the 2010 IIHF World Championship.
The 39-year-old defenceman from Oslo was participating in his 18th IIHF World Championship (including all pools).