France’s Pierre Crinon banned for ‘provocative behaviour’ at Olympics

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Au revoir. The French Ice Hockey Federation has banned French defenceman Pierre Crinon for the remainder of the 2026 Olympic tournament.

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French federation president Yves Gerbeau cited Crinon’s “provocative behaviour” as he left the ice surface at the Milano Santaguilia Arena as the reason for the punishment.

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Crinon fought Team Canada forward Tom Wilson in the late stages of Sunday’s 10-2 drubbing by Canada in the preliminary round of men’s ice hockey.

As he exited the ice, Crinon held his hands to his ears and waved his arms to rile up the crowd as a sort of wrestling villain.

Crinon and Wilson fought with 6:59 remaining in the game. Crinon had hit Canada’s Nathan MacKinnon high earlier in the period and received a two-minute penalty for interference.

Crinon and Wilson each received a five-minute major and game misconduct for the fight, and the International Ice Hockey Federation decided that no further discipline was necessary.

The French federation thought otherwise, and opted to ban the 30-year-old Crinon to reiterate the values of any player wearing the French national team sweater and “their duty to set an example.”

In a statement released on Monday night, Gerbeau said Crinon’s actions after he was ejected from the game constituted “a clear violation of the Olympic spirit and also undermines the values of our sport.”

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Gerbeau met with Crinon alongside Fabien Saguez, France’s Chef de Mission and the French team’s staff to remind Crinon of the personal commitments he made when he was selected for the team.

Team France faces Germany on Tuesday in an elimination game. The winner will face Slovakia in the quarterfinals.

Top-seeded Canada will face either Czechia or Denmark in the quarterfinal round.

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