Parents sue, hockey association suspends family… child indefinitely in penalty box By: Scott Billeck Posted: 6:05 PM CDT Friday, Mar. 14, 2025

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This article was published 14/03/2025 (576 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A nine-year-old boy is caught in the crossfire of a legal battle between his parents and their area’s hockey association and is paying an emotionally devastating price with a suspension that takes him out of the lineup for his team’s final game of the season Saturday.

The indefinite suspension handed down Thursday by the South Winnipeg Hockey Association bars the boy and his parents Corey Rusak and Elena Russo Rusak’s “participation in all South Winnipeg Hockey activities indefinitely, effective immediately.”

The action occurred after the boy’s parents filed a defamation lawsuit Tuesday naming SWHA vice-president Hiten Shah as defendant.

The couple allege they were defamed in a Dec. 23 email sent by Shah to team staff and parents, accusing Corey Rusak of inappropriate behaviour toward the team’s head coach in an altercation after a Dec. 14 game.

Rusak was accused of accosting the coach, including the use of inappropriate language and threats. Shah’s email claims three witnesses were interviewed from the incident.

Rusak told the Free Press Friday he was just defending his son and other kids on the team, who were being yelled at repeatedly on the bench.

“It’s not a safe environment for my child,” he said.

The December email also noted that parents and coaches had raised several concerns on the team regarding “different situations over the past month” involving the couple.

As a result, the association removed Rusak from his role as an assistant coach, and Russo Rusak from her position as the team’s safety manager and co-team manager.

The lawsuit alleges that the Dec. 23 email was “defamatory, untrue and maliciously stated and published with the intent to disparage and cause loss and damage” to the couple.

The claims in the lawsuit have not been tested in court and no statement of defence has been filed.

Shah did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

SWHA president Steve Mason told the Free Press that he couldn’t comment specifically on the lawsuit because it’s before the court, but said the suspension occurred “following several meetings and extensive discussions,” that Shah did not participate in and he had no bearing on the decision.

“My son’s been completely ostracized. He’s been humiliated and degraded. He goes to bed crying.”–Elena Russo Rusak

Hockey Winnipeg, the umbrella organization that administrates the youth sport in the city, also declined a request for comment.

On Feb. 24, the couple’s lawyer Dave Hill emailed the SWHA asking for a written apology and accused Shah of defamatory statements, per a letter written back to Hill on March 2 by Peter Woods, the executive director of Hockey Manitoba on behalf of the association.

Woods could not be reached for comment Friday.

Woods’ email detailed the steps for the appeal process under Hockey Manitoba’s By-Law 306(A), which states that any legal recourse before a matter makes it way through the appeals process is in violation and breach of the bylaw, resulting in an automatic indefinite suspension of membership privileges from Hockey Manitoba games, practices and activities.

Russo Rusak said she doesn’t believe Woods knows the whole story.

The SWHA cited the bylaw in its suspension letter.

Hill, however, argues the lawsuit isn’t violating any bylaws.

“Defamation has nothing to do with internal bylaws or anything like that,” he told the Free Press.

Ultimately, Hill said the boy’s parents want the suspension lifted and a public apology from the SWHA.

They’d also like a transfer enabling their son to play elsewhere in the city under a different hockey association, something Hill says is separate from the lawsuit.

Russo Rusak said if that doesn’t happen, she fears the association’s action will force them out of the area.

“I keep telling my husband that we will have to sell our house and move because how much more can my son take?” she said.

Hockey Manitoba rules state that transfer requests must be made following the completion of the registration process for the current season, meaning the couple would have to wait until the fall to make the request.

The boy is inconsolable over the suspension.

“My son’s been completely ostracized,” she said. “He’s been humiliated and degraded. He goes to bed crying.”

He had, until Thursday, participated in games and practices.

“He loves the game,” his mother said. “No matter what, he puts on a face and he goes. He gets kicked down, he gets benched, but he still goes. He’s displayed so much strength.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca