Detroit Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek escaped having charges pressed against him for a fight during an inline hockey game in the Czech Rebublic, a Czech court official announced Friday.
According to eyewitness testimony, Hasek, skating as a defender for Bonfire Strida, checked SK Pardubice’s Martin Sila to the ground. Hasek then sat on Sila and hit him on the neck with his stick. Sila was hosiptalized for three days following the incident.
After a lengthy investigation, police recommended that Hasek be charged with inflicting bodily harm, a crime punishable by up to eight years in prison.
Prosecutor Lenka Strnadova determined that there was no evidence that Hasek caused bodily harm to Sila during the May 18 match in Hasek’s hometown of Pardubice.
“Criminal charges will not be pressed,” Strnadova told The Associated Press.
Strnadova did not explain how she had reached the conclusion that Hasek did not cause any harm to Sila.
Hasek has denied any wrongdoing since the incident. Pavel Jelinek, Hasek’s lawyer, said in a statement that media reports about the incident were exaggerated.
“In fact, Mr. Sila did not have any fractures, not a broken nose, no teeth knocked out, no cuts, not a single scratch or bruise,” Jelinek said.
Sila can appeal Strnadova’s decision by asking it be overruled by the country’s supreme prosecutor.
After the incident, Hasek was suspended from the Czech inline league for one year.
In July, Hasek shocked hockey fans worldwide by announcing his intention to return to the Red Wings, the NHL team he retired from after winning the Stanley Cup with them in 2002.