from Larry Pynn of the Vancouver Sun,

National Hockey League defenceman Clayton Stoner of the Anaheim Ducks is facing five charges under the Wildlife Act related to the trophy hunting of a large male grizzly bear beloved by aboriginals on B.C.’s central coast.

The B.C.-born Stoner is charged with two counts of making a false statement to obtain a licence on May 22, 2013, as well as one count of hunting without a licence, one count of hunting wildlife out of season, and one count of unlawful possession of dead wildlife — the latter three offences allegedly taking place on May 28, 2013. Stoner is scheduled to appear in Vancouver provincial court on Oct. 9.

Stoner’s shooting of the five-year-old grizzly affectionately known as Cheeky draws immediate comparisons to the case of an American dentist charged with the illegal trophy hunting in July of a 14-year-old male lion named Cecil, outside Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park in Africa.

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