BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – A former University of Vermont hockey player now with the Portland Pirates was sentenced on Wednesday to serve 30 days in jail for hitting a man in the head and chest after a college party two years ago.

Graham Mink, 24, had pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of simple assault.

Six people testified Tuesday about the fight that took place on a dark city street.

Mink’s victim, Shane Audette, was the only one who said he has no memory of the fight.

Audette said he and some friends went to a party on Buell Street on Sept. 15, 2001. The party broke up at about 12:30 a.m., and Audette said he went outside to smoke a cigarette. He said he saw two people arguing and told them to go somewhere else. That was the last thing he remembered, he told the prosecutor.

He said he remembers waking up in the morning. He said the left side of his face was bruised and swollen. He said he couldn’t eat hard food for a few months and has had recurring, debilitating headaches.

Audette is suing Mink in civil court for his injuries.

Five other people from the party testified about what they saw.

The fight lasted less than a minute, the witnesses said.

The witnesses said that a group of Audette’s friends were in a shouting and shoving match with one of Mink’s friends. What happened next is in dispute.

Justin Mansfield said he saw Mink come toward the group and tell them to stop pushing his friend. Then he said he saw Mink reach over some people and hit Audette in the head. Audette fell back and collapsed, Mansfield said.

As soon as that happened, he said, “Everybody started grabbing everybody.”

Mansfield said he saw Mink punch Audette two or three times while Audette lay on the ground.

Chad Williams said he saw Mink kick Audette on the ground, and then start punching him.

Emmy Mayville said she saw Audette and Mink fall off the porch and into the street while locked together. Mink’s lawyer, Jeffrey Behm, said the fight began when Mink and Audette fell down together amidst the shoving that was going on between the two groups of friends.

Mink was suspended from the UVM team after the fight. He left school to play in the East Coast Hockey League. He plays with the American Hockey League’s Portland Pirates, an affiliate of the NHL’s Washington Capitals.

AP-ES-06-25-03 1915EDT