Robin Gomez took the stand today to answer the charge he “sucker-punched” fellow ECHL player Chris Ferraro during an ECHL hockey game.

Gomez, a former Victoria Salmon Kings player, is charged with assault causing bodily harm after he punched Ferraro – a Las Vegas Wranglers player – during a regular season game on Saturday, March 1, 2008 at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria.

“That punch that I threw at Mr. Ferraro is part of the game,” said Gomez, 27, during testimony in provincial court. “I throw that type of punch all the time. Not every game but it happens a lot.”

Ferraro, who fell to the ice and was knocked unconscious, had lingering medical problems from the incident.

He returned to play a few months later while Gomez was fined and suspended for the remainder of the ECHL 2007-08 season and playoffs.

Gomez played this past season with the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League while Ferraro suited up again for the Wranglers.

Video of the game has been shown numerous times in court, in which Gomez is clearly seen punching Ferraro after coming off the Salmon Kings bench.

Gomez doesn’t dispute he hit Ferraro, however testified the two “made eye contact” mere seconds before he hit him and thus the punch was within the realm of the game.

Defence lawyer Jordan Watt – representing Gomez alongwith his father Alexander Watt – asked Gomez if he went onto the ice under his own power to hit Ferraro.

“(Salmon Kings coach) Mark Morrison told me to go out there,” said Gomez. “And (Jordan) Krestanovich too. It wasn’t until a few seconds before Ferraro skated up to me that I made the decision to hit him.”

But Ferraro said he was blindsided by the punch. Much of the testimony also centered around what Ferraro said to Gomez before he hit him, and the possible degree of retaliation the “trash-talking” by Ferraro warranted.

The defence also pointed out Wranglers player Marco Peluso, who punched Gomez seconds after the incident while he was still fighting Wranglers player Adam Cracknell. Peluso was suspended for two games and fined.

“What happened was beyond the parameters of hockey and life,” testified Ferraro earlier in the trial. “To do that, go around sucker-punching people like that.”

Crown prosecutor Kimberly Henders Miller called the referee and both linesmen officiating the game to the stand.

All three were surprised when they learned Ferraro had approached the Victoria Police Department asking them to investigate, and all three agreed Ferraro had a poor reputation as a hockey player and was “one of the worst trash-talkers in the ECHL.”

Provincial court Judge Mike Hubbard admitted early on he was not familiar with the game of hockey, and has stopped testimony from multiple witnesses over the course of the four-day trial to ask explanations for such things as icing, offside and the neutral zone.

Closing arguments take place tomorrow morning at the Victoria Law Courts and a verdict is expected shortly thereafter. Ferraro has also filed a civil lawsuit against Gomez and RG Properties, who own the Salmon Kings.

patrickb@vicnews.com