LaSalle Viper goaltender Paolo Battisti was slapped with a 10-game suspension for this Physical Abuse of an Official Match Penalty on a game played at the Chatham Memorial Arena on February 14, 2016 against the Chatham Maroons in Western Conference action of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. The Vipers lost the game 7-1. Battisti was ejected after allowing the fourth goal of the game at 6:26 of the third period. The Vipers were two-men short at the time with a third penalty pending. There was great speculation by many fans and followers of the GOJHL on social media, fan forums, newspaper articles and blogs that Battisti was just shooting the puck towards the boards out of frustration and not directly trying to hit the referee. His head appeared to be down before he shot the puck. He appeared to not look for the official and then shoot the puck. Could he see him in his peripheral vision? Should an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty been called instead? Many felt that the recent unfortunate situation in the NHL with Dennis Wideman's suspension over physical abuse of an official may have influenced the OHA to set a precedent with the Battisti case. An OHA Physical Abuse of an Official Match Penalty carries a minimum of a 7-game suspension. Battisti will miss the final 6 games of the 2015-16 regular season and the Viper's first 4 playoff games. He certainly should have not shot the puck. That is often deliberately overlooked by officials just as they turn a blind eye to a player slamming the door when entering the penalty box. When felt necessary the officials usually dole out a 10-minute misconduct. Should have that been issued instead. Was it deliberate? Was it an accident? Was it unintentional? If the puck did hit the referee what other recourse does he have but to levy the match penalty? Lessons do need to be taught or refs could find pucks whizzing past them on a more regular basis, possibly resulting in serious injury.