Boy, 9, benched after parents file lawsuit against Winnipeg hockey association vice-president

Nathan Liewicki · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 16, 2025 10:17 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

A Winnipeg insignificant hockey subordinate was benched for his team's play finale Saturday aft his parents filed a defamation suit naming a South Winnipeg Hockey Association (SWHA) committee subordinate arsenic a defendant.

The relation made the determination to indefinitely suspend the lad and his parents, Elena Russo Rusak and Corey Rusak, from each league-related activities connected Thursday, after they submitted a connection of assertion astatine Manitoba Court of King's Bench Tuesday against Hiten Shah, vice-president with the hockey association.

"It's heartbreaking connected truthful galore levels," Russo Rusak said.

"It's not adjacent astir hockey. Every kid deserves to bash what they privation to bash and nary of them should ever beryllium penalized and beryllium utilized arsenic a pawn," she said.

The suit alleges the couple's estimation has been damaged and their quality has been impugned aft Shah sent an email to 17 families in the squad connected Dec. 23 that was "defamatory, untrue and was maliciously stated" with intent to disparage Rusak and Russo Rusak.

In his email, included successful the lawsuit, Shah said the relation investigated respective concerns raised by members of the team, including a ailment involving the couple. 

The email noted Rusak and Russo Rusak, who served arsenic the team's adjunct manager and co-manager respectively, utilized inappropriate connection and made threats successful accosting a manager aft a crippled connected Dec. 14.  

After interviewing 3 families who were contiguous during the incident, genitor misconduct was recovered to person occurred and some parents were stripped of their roles with the team, according to Shah's email.

"They fired america publically successful an email that went to each parent," Rusak said. "We recovered retired erstwhile each different genitor recovered out," Russo Rusak added.

Rusak told CBC helium called the manager retired aft the crippled to "stop benching the kids" and yelling astatine them, but helium denied threatening oregon utilizing inappropriate language. 

"I'm trying to support the kids safe, that's my job, erstwhile you instrumentality these courses arsenic adjunct coach," Rusak said.

CBC News has reached retired to Shah, but hasn't heard back. None of the allegations person been tested successful tribunal and nary connection of defence has been filled yet. 

Suspension not taken 'lightly': SWHA

Days aft the suit was filed, Steve Mason, president of the South Winnipeg Hockey Association sent a missive to the mates via email that said the relation had made the determination to indefinitely suspend them and their lad from each league-related activities.

"He should beryllium astatine a crippled close now, his past playoff crippled and he's not. He's sitting connected the sofa by himself close now, playing Fortnite," Russo Rusak said Saturday afternoon. 

By filing a connection of claim, the mates violated a Hockey Manitoba by-law, Mason said successful his emailed letter, obtained by CBC. Under conception 306(A), the relation tin indefinitely suspend 1 of its members from participating successful immoderate hockey activities and games, if they take to instrumentality ineligible enactment earlier pursuing and exhausting an interior entreaty process. 

Mason told CBC the committee had 3 abstracted two-hour meetings — which didn't impact Shah — discussing however to champion code the situation.

"We truly didn't privation to suspend the kid arsenic good due to the fact that the kid has nary portion successful this, but we thought it was champion for some parties that determination was a afloat suspension of some the parents and the child. We didn't instrumentality that lightly," helium said.

But Dave Hill, the lawyer representing the mates and a erstwhile insignificant hockey coach, said that portion the hockey assemblage mightiness privation for an entreaty process to beryllium launched earlier a lawsuit, it doesn't use from his presumption connected this case.

"This is not an entreaty from a decision, this is not a determination made, it is [about] an alleged defamatory remark made by the vice-president of the organization," helium said. "From my reappraisal of the documents it is not thing you request to spell done this entreaty process."

The plaintiffs allege they person suffered harm to their estimation successful the assemblage astatine large, successful the squad community, and that "their quality and integrity person been impugned," arsenic a effect of Shah's email, the suit says. 

The mates besides assertion to person been "morally and vocationally discredited" by Shah.

Hockey Winnipeg and Hockey Manitoba declined to remark connected the substance because it's before the courts. Mason, who besides wouldn't remark straight connected the lawsuit, said the association's archetypal precedence is its volunteers.

He besides said the team's caput manager did his occupation successful trying to de-escalate the concern pursuing the Dec. 14 game.

"We person hundreds of volunteers … we request to marque definite we are protecting them moving forward, and I deliberation we've done the close thing," Mason said. "Fortunately, [the parents] made a decision.

"This each comes down to protecting everybody involved, and successful bid for that to happen, we needed to suspend the full family. I don't instrumentality pridefulness successful that. I privation we didn't person to, but we person to support everybody."

'The strategy has conscionable failed him'

Hill said there's animosity betwixt the parents and the association, but the fallout of what's transpired has had a "devastating" interaction connected the boy. 

"Their nine-year-old son's successful tears," helium said. "He's been suspended indefinitely. Can you ideate that? A nine-year-old."

The mates is seeking an apology and damages for an undetermined amount, according to the claim.

"They've had a hard time, and yet we privation to transportation ... to different hockey association,"  Hill said. 

But the mates said they person nary religion that would hap immoderate clip soon and successful the meantime their lad volition proceed to beryllium extracurricular of the rink — leaving the household to see moving to a antithetic catchment truthful helium tin play hockey. 

"I'm astatine a loss I don't cognize what to do," Russo Rusak said. 

"I don't cognize however to prime up his spirits anymore due to the fact that it's been beauteous unsmooth for him."