The N.B. city that tried to referee where kids played hockey

There aren't any referees overseeing games of street hockey, but that doesn't mean the amateur players don't have to deal with officials.

At least, that was the case in one New Brunswick city, back in the spring of 1997.

"Hard to believe that this friendly game of street hockey is an illegal act," the CBC's Kas Roussy reported on The National, as a camera microphone picked up the sound of the blades of hockey sticks scraping against the asphalt.

"In Miramichi, New Brunswick, kids playing the sport on the streets and roads could see police confiscate their nets and they could also be fined."

'We're not hurting nobody'

The young players that Roussy talked to found it difficult to understand the thinking on the issue.

"I think it's a stupid law and I think we should be able to play on the streets because we're not hurting nobody," a boy in a Michigan Wolverines ballcap told Roussy.

As Roussy explained to the viewers at home, it all came down to how those games of street hockey affected the cars and trucks also using those same streets and roads.

"If the kids are obstructing traffic, that goes against the New Brunswick Motor Vehicle Act and in Miramichi, they take their Motor Vehicle Act quite seriously," Roussy said.

Safety concerns, 'saucy' behaviour

Miramichi police Const. Bill Davis conceded that it was possible that hockey nets or equipment could be confiscated, though common sense would dictate how police treated a given situation.

"Our mandate is the safety of the children," he told CBC News.

Miramichi Mayor Janice Morrison said it was her understanding that "sometimes they get quite saucy and basically, I suppose, it's the view that the street belongs to them."

Roussy said the controversy over the local street hockey situation had resulted from complaints some homeowners had made. She said police gave a few players "a friendly warning ... about the dangers of street hockey."

'A part of our culture'

Cue the controversy and the complaints.

David Adams Richards, the writer and future Canadian senator, was a former street hockey player himself.

"There's a great, unspoken sense of community about road hockey — a non-organized sense of community that the kids get together," Richards told The National.

"And that's why I think the reaction is so strong ... this is a part of our culture."

Could Don Cherry help?

One hockey player said some of his fellow players had one other play in mind as they pushed back against any restrictions on their curbside games.

"There's kids emailing [TV commentator] Don Cherry to try and get him to say something on Hockey Night in Canada, or something," he said.

From what Roussy reported, it seemed like those hockey players were going to keep playing their pickup games in the street.

"For now, playing street hockey and trying to get away with it may become the newest pastime around here," said Roussy.