It’s often said that the Olympics are a chance for athletes to make a name for themselves, but they usually don’t go about it in the way French men’s hockey player Pierre Crinon has.
Crinon, who plays for Grenoble in Ligue Magnus, France’s top hockey league, first got himself on the radar by checking Canada‘s Nathan MacKinnon in the face and subsequently dropping the gloves with Tom Wilson during France‘s 10-2 loss in the preliminary round. The fight (or really, almost-fight) got the French defenseman suspended for the rest of the tournament, not by the Olympic Committee, but by the French National Olympic and Sports Committee.
Now, Crinon is facing even more potential discipline, not from any athletic committee, but from his nation’s own judicial system. According to the French newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré, the public prosecutor of Grenoble has decided to procecute Crinon due to a complaint filed by goaltender Matt O’Connor, who plays for Angers in Ligue Magnus.
The complaint stems from an incident that occured during a game between Grenoble and Angers on November 30th. The two teams were engaged in a heated game that had already seen multiple scrums. In the second period, another scrum broke out behind Angers’ net, in which Crinon ripped off O’Connor’s helmet and punched him multiple times in the head.
According to Le Dauphiné Libéré, the complaint had been initially dismissed, but upon seeing Crinon’s bout with Wilson at the Olympics, the prosecutor decided to initiate proceedings against Crinon for intentional violence. The hearing for Crinon’s case will take place in Grenoble on May 27th.
Crinon, 30, received a seven-game suspension from Ligue Magnus due to the incident with O’Connor.
Canada’s Connor McDavid might shatter the individual points record, and Macklin Celebrini might lead the tournament in goals as a teenager, but so far, these have been Pierre Crinon’s Olympics.
