Calgary Flames’ prospect Michael Ferland admitted that he punched a man during a scuffle outside the Stageline Saloon (now Texas Gate) nearly two years ago, but on June 17 was found not guilty of assault as he was acting in self-defence.
Ferland, 22, who is from Brandon, Man., was accused of striking a man in the face, fracturing the orbital bone around his eye and knocking him unconscious while outside the downtown-Cochrane bar July 29, 2012. The Flames prospect was charged with assault against Wesley Bunn and aggravated assault of Jayson Eyma.
Ferland told a Calgary court that the incident was a reaction to being struck on the right side of his face when leaving the Cochrane bar, an argument the Calgary jury agreed with.
Ferland said that following being hit in the face after coming out of the saloon, he turned and punched the first person he saw, which he assumed was Eyma.
“It frustrates me to see that a court trial may be the only way to bring out the truth,” Ferland said in a June, 2013 press release. “Unfortunately, I can’t control what other people say or do. All I ask is that the police, the prosecutors and the court look at the evidence the same way they would if I wasn’t a professional hockey player.”
