Former minor hockey player charged in British Columbia child-grabbing incident

KELOWNA, B.C. – A former minor-league hockey player has been charged after a child-grabbing incident in downtown Kelowna, B.C., on Sunday.

Thirty-year-old Harold Giffen Nyren of Calgary appeared in a Kelowna courtroom Tuesday and is charged with assault and wilfully resisting or obstructing a police officer.

Police allege the man grabbed a young child from its parents in a waterfront park, then left the child, took off his clothes and tried to swim away in the chilly waters of Okanagan Lake.

Police say Nyren was arrested after officers coaxed closer to shore.

Hockey-player database Elite Prospects shows that Nyren played for Calgary in the American Midget Hockey League and for Moose Jaw and Kamloops in the Western Hockey League from 2005 to 2010.

During the 2010-2011 season, he played for the Abbotsford Heat in the American Hockey League and for the Utah Grizzlies in the lower-tiered ECHL.

Nyren played for the University of Calgary from 2012 to 2014 before returning to the ECHL with the Colorado Eagles and spending a couple years playing for teams in France and Italy.

(The Canadian Press, CHNL)