The OHL's supplemental disciplinary committee has a couple of interesting decisions to make after Friday's Sudbury vs Niagara game. Firstly, Dougie Hamilton's head shot on Sudbury captain Michael MacDonald will almost certainly be first up for decision-makers of the OHL. Not having seen the head shot, there is no basis or need to comment on the merits of the hit, but what I do know is that Hamilton was assessed a two minute minor penalty by the officials and that MacDonald continued to play in the game, only being diagnosed with concussion like symptoms after the game. If you go to a discussion of the hit you will find approximately 15 different viewpoints of the hit, proving that eyewitness testimony is flawed, particularly if the observers are adorned in Wolves or Ice Dog colours. The issue of MacDonald continuing to play in the game likely will be the basis of the Ice Dogs defense as they could argue that the injury could have come after the play (Hamilton picked up his penalty at 2:56 of the 3rd period). Maybe it's not the best of defenses, but certainly is a mitigating factor.
The other incident that bears attention is Brody Silk's straight right to the face of Ryan Strome in the midst of a 2nd period scrum. Strome would miss the rest of that game, return with a cage for the game against Barrie the next night but is now scheduled for facial surgery and will miss a minimum of two weeks. Having watched this incident a couple of times, a couple of observations: First of all Strome did not initiate the aggression in that scrum. This is not to say that he was a blameless victim in the matter as Strome is something of a master of verbal shots. Also, while Strome was engaged with a couple of different players, he never really looked like he wanted to fight. When he got tangled up with Silk, Silk simply dropped him with a shot flush in the face. Somehow Strome got penalized for fighting, while Silk got 2, 5 and 10. Silk himself admitted after the game that he had grown weary of Strome taking "liberties" with some of his teammates.
So you have two incidents, one likely of recklessness and carelessness and one with clearly malicious intent. A tricky one indeed for the OHL offices.
One last note is that Sudbury and Niagara will duel this Saturday night in Niagara. That should be a feisty affair to say the least. Catch it at 7pm on TV Cogeco and the OHL Action Pack.
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As of 10:15 AM on Thurs. there is still no word on this. However, I expected a suspension for Dougie Hamilton as soon as I saw the hit happen. About a month ago I came to realize that it would only be a matter of time before he gets himself suspended. He likes to make that big, open ice hit and in todays OHL that is literally, skating on thin ice.
ReplyDeleteI know you and Ed support David Branch and his efforts but I am gradually losing my faith with this man. He seems out of control with his suspensions...like a kid in a candy store. With Branch and his penchant for doling out these suspensions, I expect Brody Silk to be suspended as well. At least, he'd better be or I will have completely lost whatever respect I have left for Mr. Branch.
Slamr
ReplyDeleteOne thing I don't like about David Branch is his propensity to pander to the media, depending on who is interviewing him. I also think the OHL have painted themselves into a corner with some of their suspensions (i.e. Kuhnhackl's 20 games). So I'm not ready to hang a portrait of David Branch over the fireplace.