Life threatening OHL hit

[BlueNGold]

Surprised there isn't a thread on this.

This happened on Friday night during an OHL game. Scary, scary hit. Ben Fanelli (the guy that got hit) has a fractured skull, face lacerations and fractured orbital bone and is still in the hospital.

Mike Liambas (the one that made the hit) got suspended for the entire season plus playoffs and his major junior career is over.

Fanelli is a 16 year old and Liambas is 20.

http://tsn.ca/chl/story/?id=297187

[DrJones]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlueNGold

Surprised there isn't a thread on this. This happened on Friday night during an OHL game. Scary, scary hit. Ben Fanelli (the guy that got hit) has a fractured skull, face lacerations and fractured orbital bone and is still in the hospital. Mike Liambas (the one that made the hit) got suspended for the entire season plus playoffs and his major junior career is over. Fanelli is a 16 year old and Liambas is 20. http://tsn.ca/chl/story/?id=297187

Pretty ordinary hit (perhaps a boarding minor) with a horribly unlucky result. If that's worthy of a season-long suspension, so are 80% of all body checks.

[Scottdau]

I blame it to the fact he is 16 years old. The body is still growing and he is noway as strong as the guys he is going up against.

[BlueNGold]

Quote: Originally Posted by DrJones

Pretty ordinary hit (perhaps a boarding minor) with a horribly unlucky result. If that's worthy of a season-long suspension, so are 80% of all body checks.

I agree. The outcome of the hit was obviously a horrible thing. To me it looked like Liambas had him lined up perfectly behind the net but the guy turned his back at the last second which is why the end result of the hit was what it was. Liambas was only doing what every hockey player is taught and that's to finish your check.

I think the reason it was a season long suspension was to send a message though. Whether that was the right thing to do, I don't know but that is what it seems like to me. I think it'll also put more pressure on the NHL to do something when it comes to this kind of thing.

[DrJones]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlueNGold

I agree. The outcome of the hit was obviously a horrible thing. To me it looked like Liambas had him lined up perfectly behind the net but the guy turned his back at the last second which is why the end result of the hit was what it was. Liambas was only doing what every hockey player is taught and that's to finish your check. I think the reason it was a season long suspension was to send a message though. Whether that was the right thing to do, I don't know but that is what it seems like to me. I think it'll also put more pressure on the NHL to do something when it comes to this kind of thing.

But what's the message? Don't body check anymore? Unlike a lot of the NHL big hits this year (Richards, etc.), there was no intent to injure, no head shot, no elbow used. The kid did nothing wrong, so what are other players going to learn from this? What injuries are going to be prevented by this suspension? There's no way a junior player is going to look at that play and think, "Yup, I'm never going to finish my check on a defenceman holding the puck near the boards ever again. Too risky." It's a PR move by the OHL, nothing more.

[Cusefan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scottdau

I blame it to the fact he is 16 years old. The body is still growing and he is noway as strong as the guys he is going up against.

Totally agree, for all intents and purposes they are playing Professional Hockey and that is something a 16 year old should not be doing. You do not see 16 year olds going up against 20 year olds in football for a reason...

[tyler289]

This is one of those cases where they considered the injury that resulted and not the hit itself.

Also, I believe the guy that hit his is known as a goon, which may have factored in..

[SPTO]

Did any of my Canadian friends here catch the TSN NHL panel talking about this? What a bunch of jokers! Bob Clarke called the suspension ridiculous and that Jones guy (I forget his first name) defended the hit and more or less called it unfortunate because all the guy was trying to do was change the momentum of the game. He then has the balls to say it was a terrible suspension. The only guy who made any sense was Bob Mckenzie who applauded David Branch's ruling calling it a brave ruling on his part.

These idiots don't realize that it was a 16 year old that got pulverized out there. I know 16 year olds are a lot better equipped then they were 10 years ago but it's distasteful that some 20 year old would go and bash in a kid in a vulnerable position like that. We're dealing with a minor here, not some veteran NHL player who would most likely not be in the position to get hit like that.

Branch has a duty to look after his players and when it comes to minors he has to be a bit more harsh because he isn't only working under the demands of his owners and such but also to the parents that entrust him and the league to make sure their kids don't get turned to mush.

OTOH Nick Kypreos of all people from Sportsnet had the right take on this and made the same point i'm making here. This was one of the few times where a Sportsnet guy made more sense then a TSN guy on hockey matters.