Former Oil King sues over serious injuries

WINNIPEG — A Brandon man is taking a fellow hockey player and two sport organizations to court after he was seriously injured on the ice, alleging it caused him hardship and lost income.

In 2024, Devon Leblanc was a player on the Virden Oil Kings, a senior amateur team that plays in the Tiger Hills Hockey League, which is a member of the Hockey Manitoba association.

Leblanc’s age is not made clear in the court filing, but an online roster suggests he’s 38.

Leblanc alleges Bryce Enns, a member of the Killarney Shamrocks, bodychecked and assaulted him during a game between the two teams on Nov. 28, 2024.

“The defendant player forcefully and violently struck the plaintiff from behind with a bodycheck, driving the plaintiff to the ice surface,” alleges Leblanc’s statement of claim, filed on Oct. 15 in the Court of King’s Bench.

“Immediately following the bodycheck, while the plaintiff was down on the ice and unable to protect himself, the defendant player removed his hockey gloves and repeatedly struck and punched the plaintiff about the head and face.”

The court filing names Enns, the hockey league and two of its officials and the association as defendants.

None have filed statements of defence in response to Leblanc’s lawsuit.

Leblanc claims he sustained numerous injuries, including a broken collarbone that required surgeries, cuts to his face and head, bruises and other injuries to his head, neck and shoulder, and has difficulty sleeping.

The lawsuit alleges that because Enns had a long disciplinary record within the league, which included penalties and suspensions for misconduct and gross misconduct, the association and the league “knew, and in any event, ought to have known that the defendant player presented a foreseeable and continuing risk of serious violent injury to other participants.”

Leblanc said Enns assaulted him “intentionally, maliciously and without provocation” and was “entirely unrelated to the ordinary advancement of the game of hockey,” removing any implied consent inherent to the sport. He called the attack “a flagrant breach of the rules and community standards.”

The lawsuit claims Enns had a duty to avoid causing him injury, wanted to intentionally cause Leblanc harm with the check and was reckless to other players.

The league and the association, Leblanc claims in the suit, failed to uphold their contractual obligation on several fronts, including failing to adequately discipline or remove Enns from play despite his history, and failing to report the record to Hockey Manitoba.

He also argues Hockey Manitoba should be held liable, claiming it failed to audit or supervise the league’s disciplinary function and failed to enforce its minimum suspension, claiming both Tiger Hills and Enns “operated under the direct sanction, jurisdiction and control of Hockey Manitoba, which maintained governing authority.”

Trevor Buhnai, the chief executive officer of Hockey Manitoba, said the organization has recently been made aware of the lawsuit.

He said it would not be appropriate to comment on the matter while it’s before the courts.

» Winnipeg Free Press