OHL throws book at the Windsor Spitfires

I guess where there is smoke there is fire eh?

[Official Press Release]

The Ontario Hockey League, (OHL), has levied fines totaling $400,000.00 against the Windsor Spitfires Hockey Club and taken away three 1st round draft selections and two 2nd round draft selections from the Spitfires.

“In 2009 the Board of Governors of the Ontario Hockey League developed the OHL ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM which is designed to address and attempt to eliminate violations of the RULES and impose appropriate penalties if violations occur. The enforcement process is an integral part of the process to ensure integrity and fair play among the MEMBER TEAMS. One of the fundamental principles of the enforcement process is to ensure that those MEMBER TEAMS that are abiding by the rules are not disadvantaged by their commitment to compliance”, stated OHL Commissioner David Branch.

“The League conducted two separate investigations led by our Director of Security and Enforcement, and in considering all the facts, I was persuaded that the Windsor Spitfires Hockey Club violated the League’s Player Benefit and Recruitment Rules and Policies. While the penalties may appear to be severe, the League and its Member Teams recognize for any such violations of our Recruitment / Benefit Rules and Policies, we must send a strong message to preserve the integrity of our League”, concluded Branch.

In addition to the fine, the Windsor Spitfires shall forfeit 1st round selections in the annual OHL Priority Selection in the years 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2nd round selections in the OHL Priority Selection Process for the years 2015 and 2017.

Update: I don't think this story is going away and here are some of the tweets of interest relating to this story. Also, Chris Peters of the United States of Hockey has a really good story on this as well. 

Board of Governors approves changes to two rules

Associated Press

There were two changes to the NHL  rule book;  Rule 48 which covers hits to the head and Rule 41 which covers the penalty for boarding. Some in the past have complained that Rule 48 is too vague and confusing. Now the rule has been changed, to take away the confusion and vagueness, now it doesn't matter hat direction a player comes from to hit an opposition player in the head. On the boarding rule tweak; it now doesn't matter if you check or push a defenseless player into the boards.

Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer   ---- The NHL's Board of Governors on Tuesday approved changes to the wording of Rule 48 that were initially passed by the League's general managers and then the Competition Committee at meetings in Boston during the Stanley Cup Final.

Rule 48 previously provided the on-ice officials with the ability to call a major penalty for any targeted head hit from the lateral or blind side, but the re-written rule no longer includes the words lateral or blind side, and the major penalty provision has been replaced by the minor penalty provision.

"Now, the confusion some of the players have expressed in the past as to what direction they're approaching a player, what direction a player is facing, east, west, north, south, that has all been taken out," said Brendan Shanahan, NHL Senior V.P. of Player Safety and Hockey Operations. "Anywhere on the ice, coming from any direction, you target the head and make it a principle point of contact, you'll be subject to a two-minute penalty on the ice for Rule 48. You'll also be -- as with all two-minute penalties or non-calls -- subject to supplementary discipline."

In addition, Rule 41, which covers boarding, was also changed to read, "A boarding penalty shall be imposed on any player who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently or dangerously."

The words "pushes" and "defenseless" were previously not included in the definition of the boarding rule. Defenseless replaced the word vulnerable.

"What we did is we took the onus off the violence of the hit itself and added the word 'push' in there," Shanahan said. "It really has more to do with the violence in the collision with the boards. We don't necessarily think it has to be a violent hit to cause a violent crash, so we broadened the rule by putting in the word 'push.' "

Related articles

• NHL Competition Committee Approves Expansion Of Rule 48 (sbnation.com)
• NHL's competition committee to recommend changes to Rule 48 (theglobeandmail.com)
• NHL's competition committee to recommend changes to head hitting rule (thehockeynews.com)
• Winnipeg NHL approval vote on tap in New York (cbc.ca)

Time to change Rule 48 now!!!

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeWhen I heard about this change yesterday I was very excited, because I am afraid that someone is going to get killed on the ice if these hits are allowed to continue going forward. I think going forward; hits to the players head need to be taken out of NHL hockey. I believe that it’s time the Raffie Torres and Matt Cookes of the world change the way they play the game of hockey.

Before I get told that I am about taking hitting out of the game, I am not, I am all for playing hard nosed physical hockey. I also believe that you can play hard nosed hockey without head hunting. Also, I am all for two willing combatants dropping the gloves and settle things like men, they know the consequences for their actions. It’s also time for the NHL leadership to take these types of hits like the one on Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook out of the game of hockey. If the game of hockey doesn’t change you’re going to have a bunch of drooling ex-hockey players walking around.

BOSTON — National Hockey League general managers will never be accused of moving hastily on the topic of blows to the head, and the Aaron Rome-Nathan Horton incident in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final hasn’t set a stampede in motion, either.

But little by little, the GMs — who met Wednesday at a downtown Boston hotel — appear to be sidling toward an acknowledgment that most head hits need to be punishable, in some fashion.

The GMs have put forth a recommendation to expand Rule 48, which deals with illegal hits to the head, by removing the words “blindside” and perhaps “north-south” as well, and appear to want the rule to cover hits to the head of any vulnerable player, anywhere on the ice.

There can be no new rule until the competition committee, NHL Players Association and Board of Governors all sign off on it.

But as for clarity, not much of it emerged Wednesday