BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – A Portland Pirates player has pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of simple assault for hitting a man in the head and chest after a party two years ago.

Former University of Vermont hockey player Graham Mink was scheduled to go on trial Monday for attempted aggravated assault, but Mink, 24, and the state reached a plea deal just before the opening of the trial.

The plea deal calls for a suspended sentence of 90 days to six months. The state is able to argue for up to 45 days in jail and the defense can argue for less. The original attempted aggravated assault charge carried a possible 15-year sentence.

A sentencing hearing began Monday afternoon and is expected to run through Wednesday.

Mink and Shane Audette, then 22, were at a party on Sept. 16, 2001, according to court papers. When the party started breaking up at about 12:30 a.m., both men went outside with friends.

Mink’s lawyer, Jeffrey Behm, told the judge that two of Mink’s friends were play fighting on the street. One of Audette’s friends starting egging the two on, and one of Mink’s friends told the other guy to leave them alone, Behm said. Five or six of Audette’s friends then surrounded Mink’s friend and starting pushing him.

Mink stepped in and two of Audette’s friends grabbed him, Behm said. Mink threw them off and then he and Audette ended up falling onto the ground. Mink hit Audette a few times in the face, Behm said, and then felt him go limp. As soon as that happened, Behm said Mink stopped.

However, prosecutor T.J. Donovan described a different scene, saying the fight began between the two groups of friends and Mink hit Audette.

“As a result, Shane Audette collapsed on the ground and the defendant then went after Shane Audette,” Donovan said.

He said Mink kicked Audette in the chest and head while he lay on the ground. Audette suffered a fractured bone in his face, headaches and memory loss as a result of the beating, Donovan said.

Mink had just started his senior year at UVM at the time of the fight. He had been the team’s leading scorer the previous year. He was suspended from the team after the incident and left school to play in the East Coast Hockey League. Mink plays for the American Hockey League’s Portland Pirates, an affiliate of the NHL’s Washington Capitals.

AP-ES-06-24-03 1613EDT