Alex the Great Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Overage players ideally get a chance to go out on their own merits, whether it's raising a trophy or going out with a gut-wrenching loss. It's not supposed to end the way it did on Thursday for Zach Bell, whose London Knights' potential for a three-peat might have also become diminished due to the defenceman breaking his leg on a controversial play. During the first period, Bell was in no-man's land a few feet out of the boards when the Windsor Spitfires' Josh Ho-Sang shoved him from behind. The overage defenceman, who came back from the ECHL this season to join London for its push to win the Memorial Cup, went into the boards awkwardly. Ho-Sang was called for a holding penalty; it looked like a classic instance of a lack of respect for an opponent, although you could see similar plays dozens of times in a game without the same disastrous consequences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4Qabu7MaJzk Bell, a classic stay-at-home defenceman, has been a popular player over his five seasons with the league, first with the Brampton Battalion and this past season with the Knights. He began this season with the ECHL's Ontario Reign, but London obtained his rights from the now-North Bay Battalion and he came back eager to help win a championship and improve his chances at the next level. The St. John's, N.L., native came into the playoffs with the Winnipeg Jets still having an "organizational interest" in signing him. I think the #Knights want more than a minor penalty on #Spitfires Ho-Sang, but it was the way Bell's leg went into the boards. Not the trip. — Jim Parker (@winstarparker) March 28, 2014 Zach seemed to be taking the news about as well as can be expected. He was obviously pumped to play in the Memorial Cup in May — Mark Edwards (@MarkEdwardsHP) March 28, 2014 Broken leg for Zach Bell. Dale Hunter not happy about it. — Ryan Pyette (@RyanatLFPress) March 28, 2014 @MichelleSturino 8 weeks. It's not good. He knew right away it was bad. — Mark Edwards (@MarkEdwardsHP) March 28, 2014 Ho-Sang's role and possible culpability also has some interesting repercussions. The 18-year-old NHL draft prospect, with 32 goals and 85 points in the regular season, was probably near the top of Hockey Canada's list to be invited to play for this country's entry at the upcoming world under-18 championship. This might not be as clear-cut a case as a check to the head, or slashing a player in the head while he's facing the other way, to give other instances where the OHL has meted out stiff suspensions already in the playoffs. However, the International Ice Hockey Federation policy is to honour suspensions from the Canadian major junior leagues. The Knights advanced with a 4-3 win, but are not missing a seasoned defenceman and their only experienced goalie is playing hurt. Jake Patterson, who's the starter since Anthony Stolarz has been suspended, twisted his knee with about five minutes gone in the third period. Patterson tweaked his knee after catching a divot in the ice. He said he had to push through it. — Ryan Pyette (@RyanatLFPress) March 28, 2014 The end result is London will have a long break to get ready for the next round, which will likely be against top seed Guelph. Its capacity for containing the Storm, who led the OHL in goals, might not be as vast without Bell and Stolarz. Meantime, the Stolarz-Ho-Sang and Ho-Sang-Bell incidents will only add to the enmity between the Knights and Spitfires, as if it wasn't already up to 20 on a scale from 1-10. Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet (video: TV Cogeco Ontario). 15 games worthy? uh.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Strangelove Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Lol 15 games in the playoffs for that ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coyotecanuck Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Seems pretty excessive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRussianRocket. Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 15 games worthy? Hell no. That's ridiculous. Does it send a message? Hell yes. Make young players more aware of the consequences of doing actions like this. ...in Ho-Sangs case, play was dirty, and resulted in a bad injury to the targeted player but either way, good way to send a message even if the suspension isn't worthy of 15 but it was a wreckless play. I generally agree with call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex the Great Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 Lol 15 games in the playoffs for that ???? To be fair, Ho-Sangs team was eliminated that game I believe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetica Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Wow! I can't believe that got a 15 game suspension. (For anyone interested, the OHL has a video including simple graphics explaining their rational behind the suspension.) What's really interesting is that he got 15 games for that, but the London Knights' goalie Anthony Stolarz was only suspended 8 games for swinging his stick and hitting Ho-Sang in the back of the head. (news story, video) Apparently the OHL is emulating the NHL's supplementary discipline logic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Grimes Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Good. They should start increasing the penalties and fines at the NHL level too. It's time NHLers start paying hundreds of thousands of dollars and are suspended for dozens of games. If they're going to play like criminals, it's time to start treating them like criminals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameron88188 Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 That's a joke. That wasn't even a penalty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiffyPB Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I think they borrowed Shanny's wheel of justice for this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goal:thecup Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Bell's leg is broken; Ho-Sang wasn't seriously injured = results determine severity more than intent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonberries Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I like it. OHL takes player safety seriously. Don't do that shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herberts Vasiljevs Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Most overrated player in the draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silfverberg Snipes Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Good. They should start increasing the penalties and fines at the NHL level too. It's time NHLers start paying hundreds of thousands of dollars and are suspended for dozens of games. If they're going to play like criminals, it's time to start treating them like criminals. Did you even watch the video...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Mind Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Good. They should start increasing the penalties and fines at the NHL level too. It's time NHLers start paying hundreds of thousands of dollars and are suspended for dozens of games. If they're going to play like criminals, it's time to start treating them like criminals. Exactly. This is the kind of suspension that sends a message to the player, unlike most fines/suspensions in the NHL. Sure, 15 games seems excessive here, but if they are consistent in giving that same number of games out each time a player makes a dangerous play, there's going to be far fewer players doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Wow. 15 games? Um, ah, gee... Don't see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancin'Droid Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Wow! I can't believe that got a 15 game suspension. (For anyone interested, the OHL has a video including simple graphics explaining their rational behind the suspension.) What's really interesting is that he got 15 games for that, but the London Knights' goalie Anthony Stolarz was only suspended 8 games for swinging his stick and hitting Ho-Sang in the back of the head. (news story, video) Apparently the OHL is emulating the NHL's supplementary discipline logic. Even though that explanation was equivalent to a grade 5 powerpoint it still better than NHL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a Fool Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 All of my wat. Shows how much pull London has in the OHL. Just as ridiculous as the NHL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baka Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Good. They should start increasing the penalties and fines at the NHL level too. It's time NHLers start paying hundreds of thousands of dollars and are suspended for dozens of games. If they're going to play like criminals, it's time to start treating them like criminals. Hooking 3 fines then a suspension. Tripping an automatic 10 games. Cross Checking an automatic 15 games. Slashing an automatic 20 games. Boarding an automatic 25 games. Blow to the head an automatic season ban followed by criminal charges and a court case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 He clearly had no intent to break Bell's leg. I think he was just trying to push Bell into the boards (staying on his feet), 15 games is ridiculous. Happens in the NHL and some players don't even get suspended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueberries Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Wow 15 games. Maybe it'll hurt his draft stock and we might be able to pick him up in the 2nd round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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