The ref decided to teach a lesson in sportsmanship

PublishedAugust 13, 2025 8:04 PM EDT•UpdatedAugust 13, 2025 8:04 PM EDT

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It’s never too late to teach some rules about sportsmanship, and one hockey referee took matters into his own hands during a game between Team USA and Germany on Wednesday.

The Hlinka Gretzky Cup is happening in Czechia and Slovakia and is an international tournament for U-18 teams.

It’s not the same as the IIHF U-18 World Championship, but it is a big tournament that allows players to get some scout eyes on them ahead of the NHL Draft.

Anyway, Team USA was squaring off against Germany, and while Germany is usually pretty solid on the international stage, this one was all Team USA.

The Americans wound up winning this one handily, by a score of 8-1, but one of the few shots that didn’t find twine came late in the first period, with the US already up 3-0.

Portland Winterhawks forward Will McLaughlin was stopped by the German defense as he tried to cut toward the slot and get a shot off on German goalie Sascha Pitaev.

The whistle blew, and it appeared that McLaughlin fired the shot on net in frustration. 

The official wasn’t having it.

He immediately started yelling for McLaughlin to go over and apologize to Pitaev.

McLaughlin obliged and gave Pitaev a pat on the chest as an apology.

Honestly, it was a good lesson on sportsmanship for McLaughlin, and one that could save him some bruises down the line, because other teams typically don’t take too kindly to their goalie getting shelled after the whistle.

Especially when it’s 3-0 one period in.

The nature of a tournament like this is that you have to run up the score in the opening rounds since goal differential is typically one of the first tie-breakers.

That said, maybe pull up and don’t let one rip on the dude who’s already about a goal away from getting the hook before the end of the first stanza.