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Maggie Herger, 16, couldn't have been prouder to don a Vancouver Canucks shirt to root for her beloved hockey team against the Sharks in San Jose. Four years earlier in her native Canada, after undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor, a hospital visit from Canucks players raised her spirits and helped her recover.
At Wednesday's game, however, the high school junior suffered another frightening brain trauma. Maggie said she suffered a concussion after a drunken Sharks fan who had been harassing her smacked her in the head.
As paramedics loaded her into an ambulance at HP Pavilion, Maggie said, another Sharks fan noticed the girl's Canucks jersey and yelled at her to "suck it up."
"I just wanted to cry," Maggie said from her Discovery Bay home Thursday, hours after being released from the hospital. "Who does that?"
San Jose police confirmed that they were investigating the attack, but said that because it's still an open case and the victim is a minor, they could release few details. As of late Thursday, no arrests had been made.
The Sharks released a statement Thursday night.
"Arena staff, along with San Jose police, interviewed the person who made contact with the injured fan, who stated that the contact was accidental during the celebration of a Sharks goal. Upon being interviewed, others seated in the area of the incident did not report seeing the contact between the parties involved."
The incident was the latest in a trend of fan attacks at California sports games this year, but perhaps the first against a young girl.
Maggie and her 18-year-old sister, Maya, who got the tickets for her sister as a Christmas gift, put on their Canucks gear and went to the Shark Tank expecting to hear cursing and verbal abuse from the hometown crowd.
But "they were just over the moon" to go to the game, said their mother, Jaynie Herger. "I told them to be very sportsmanlike, because it's Sharks territory."
The girls said they did just that, keeping to themselves as they rooted for the Canucks and took smiling pictures that appeared destined for a happy digital photo album. But one intoxicated woman wearing a Sharks jersey, who appeared to be in her 40s, kept bumping into the teens and yelling curses at them, the two sisters said.
Then, as the fans jumped up to celebrate a second period Sharks goal, the sisters said, the woman behind them brought down both her hands and smacked Maggie in the back of her head "really hard," forcing Maggie to fall forward and leaving her dazed.
Her sister then rushed to an usher. Maya said she heard the woman tell the usher "she's a Canucks fan," but that she "didn't mean to" hurt her.
"I was just really surprised,'' Maggie said. "I didn't think people acted like that."
She later found out from doctors that she had suffered a slight concussion, leaving her head "spinning" a day later and her neck and head still hurting. She was bedridden, nauseous and on pain medication.
The family was relieved, however, that her benign brain tumor -- which is stable and much smaller but still present next to an artery -- was not impacted by the hit, and there appeared to be no internal bleeding.
Since moving from Canada to California two years ago, her family and friends have raised thousands of dollars for tumor research through charity walks.
Maggie said that after being hit, ushers and paramedics rushed her into an ambulance, and that's when another Sharks fan walked by and noticed the girl's Canucks gear.
"He looked in and said, 'You're faking it, you don't need an ambulance, suck it up,' " she recalled, tearing up.
One of the paramedics made her feel better by showing pictures of his friend, Bryan Stow, a South Bay paramedic who is recovering from brain injuries after being badly beaten outside a Giants game in Los Angeles in March.
"I was just really disappointed. I didn't think that hockey fans were as bad as the baseball fans," she said, recalling the Stow attack, which drew national headlines. "I didn't think that anyone would physically hurt me."
Her mother blamed the attack on the alcohol served at the game, noting that her daughters saw the woman who hit Maggie fall down in the aisle twice.
But the family doesn't blame Sharks fans as a whole, pointing out that some of the people sitting next to them had apologized and tried to help.
Police said they took statements from two witnesses but did not make an arrest at the scene. The case will be sent to the department's investigations unit, where detectives will review the report and determine if there is enough information to move forward.
The Canucks won the marquee matchup 3-2 in overtime, helped by a goal from Maggie's favorite player, Ryan Kesler.
So would she go back to another game?
"I would be terrified and would want to go with my dad or security guards," Maggie said. "But I would love to go back."
At Wednesday's game, however, the high school junior suffered another frightening brain trauma. Maggie said she suffered a concussion after a drunken Sharks fan who had been harassing her smacked her in the head.
As paramedics loaded her into an ambulance at HP Pavilion, Maggie said, another Sharks fan noticed the girl's Canucks jersey and yelled at her to "suck it up."
"I just wanted to cry," Maggie said from her Discovery Bay home Thursday, hours after being released from the hospital. "Who does that?"
San Jose police confirmed that they were investigating the attack, but said that because it's still an open case and the victim is a minor, they could release few details. As of late Thursday, no arrests had been made.
The Sharks released a statement Thursday night.
"Arena staff, along with San Jose police, interviewed the person who made contact with the injured fan, who stated that the contact was accidental during the celebration of a Sharks goal. Upon being interviewed, others seated in the area of the incident did not report seeing the contact between the parties involved."
The incident was the latest in a trend of fan attacks at California sports games this year, but perhaps the first against a young girl.
Maggie and her 18-year-old sister, Maya, who got the tickets for her sister as a Christmas gift, put on their Canucks gear and went to the Shark Tank expecting to hear cursing and verbal abuse from the hometown crowd.
But "they were just over the moon" to go to the game, said their mother, Jaynie Herger. "I told them to be very sportsmanlike, because it's Sharks territory."
The girls said they did just that, keeping to themselves as they rooted for the Canucks and took smiling pictures that appeared destined for a happy digital photo album. But one intoxicated woman wearing a Sharks jersey, who appeared to be in her 40s, kept bumping into the teens and yelling curses at them, the two sisters said.
Then, as the fans jumped up to celebrate a second period Sharks goal, the sisters said, the woman behind them brought down both her hands and smacked Maggie in the back of her head "really hard," forcing Maggie to fall forward and leaving her dazed.
Her sister then rushed to an usher. Maya said she heard the woman tell the usher "she's a Canucks fan," but that she "didn't mean to" hurt her.
"I was just really surprised,'' Maggie said. "I didn't think people acted like that."
She later found out from doctors that she had suffered a slight concussion, leaving her head "spinning" a day later and her neck and head still hurting. She was bedridden, nauseous and on pain medication.
The family was relieved, however, that her benign brain tumor -- which is stable and much smaller but still present next to an artery -- was not impacted by the hit, and there appeared to be no internal bleeding.
Since moving from Canada to California two years ago, her family and friends have raised thousands of dollars for tumor research through charity walks.
Maggie said that after being hit, ushers and paramedics rushed her into an ambulance, and that's when another Sharks fan walked by and noticed the girl's Canucks gear.
"He looked in and said, 'You're faking it, you don't need an ambulance, suck it up,' " she recalled, tearing up.
One of the paramedics made her feel better by showing pictures of his friend, Bryan Stow, a South Bay paramedic who is recovering from brain injuries after being badly beaten outside a Giants game in Los Angeles in March.
"I was just really disappointed. I didn't think that hockey fans were as bad as the baseball fans," she said, recalling the Stow attack, which drew national headlines. "I didn't think that anyone would physically hurt me."
Her mother blamed the attack on the alcohol served at the game, noting that her daughters saw the woman who hit Maggie fall down in the aisle twice.
But the family doesn't blame Sharks fans as a whole, pointing out that some of the people sitting next to them had apologized and tried to help.
Police said they took statements from two witnesses but did not make an arrest at the scene. The case will be sent to the department's investigations unit, where detectives will review the report and determine if there is enough information to move forward.
The Canucks won the marquee matchup 3-2 in overtime, helped by a goal from Maggie's favorite player, Ryan Kesler.
So would she go back to another game?
"I would be terrified and would want to go with my dad or security guards," Maggie said. "But I would love to go back."
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