We've Seen This Assault Before

There's definitely been more animosity between Russia and the US when it comes to hockey. Russia's program remains one of the top on the planet, but the Americans have steadily been climbing the ranks to become a puck superpower as well. The women's side of the game is a little different as the Americans have always been a superpower, but the Russians are starting to look more and more dangerous. This article, however, will mention dangerous plays, but it's a plea for people on social media to learn how to use a search engine.

I will admit that this video is hard to stomach because of the sound that is heard. I have no idea what the Russian player was thinking, but her reaction to whatever set her off is scary, dangerous, and assault with a weapon if we want to look at societal laws. Here's the clip that popped up on Twitter.

When this popped up on my feed, I immediately thought that there had to be more coverage than some 20 second clip on YouTube that had virtually no information on the players involved. So here's the catch: this video is from 2014. Thanks to some quick research, the fantastic website Scouting the Refs has the full details.

According to StR, "Little Caesars AAA player Hannah Bates, playing for the West Coast Selects Team, was hit over the head by an opposing player. With Spartak Moscow trailing 2-1, 16-year-old Svetlana Starovoytova took out her frustrations on her opponent’s head."

Bates was alright thankfully, and even tweeted out some thanks to Warrior for her helmet. Note the date of the tweet.

Shoutout to Warrior for making Russian proof helmets that saved me from a concussion. https://t.co/VoTcjq3SvQ

— Hannah Bates (@HannahBates08) August 1, 2014

Since the attack, I can't find any information on Starovoytova or where she's ended up, but I hope she's found an outlet for that anger. I don't care what Bates did - there's no rationale whatsoever for an attack like that.

As for those tweeting it out, please do a quick Google search before posting something like this. What made this worse was that the person who posted it on YouTube posted the video on March 10, 2016 with zero references to 2014. The radio station that picked it up and tweeted it out also had no reference to 2014.

Come on, people. We're better than that. Get it right.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

UPDATE: Thanks to Patrick Conway, we have info on Starovoytova's whereabouts! He writes, "Some background info on Ms. Stavroytova, just for interest's sake: she's played most of her youth hockey -- since at least 2009 -- on defence for Marino-2000 Moscow, a boys' team that plays in the city's youth league. She played 23 games for Marino in 2015-16, scoring 2-4-6. And she had only 6 penalty minutes, so perhaps she has settled things down a bit, although she has never been particularly "goonish" in that league... :) Svetlana's sister Alyona also plays for Marino, at forward, and had 29 points in 20 games this season for Marino-2001." Well done, Patrick! Thanks!