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Liambas Suspended for Season

by on November 4, 2009 in Uncategorized - 49 Comments

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Since last Friday, Michael Liambas of the Erie Otters has awaited the league’s decision on his hit to Kitchener Rangers defenseman Ben Fanelli. Today, the OHL has come down hard on Liambas, suspending him for the regular season and playoffs, thus ending his OHL career.

League commissioner David Branch said “players must understand they shall be held accountable for their actions. We must all work towards improving the level of respect players have towards opposing players and the game in general. It is the position of the Ontario Hockey League that player Michael Liambas of the Erie Otters Hockey Club be suspended for the balance of the 2009-10 playing season including playoffs.”

The question that remains among fans are “does the punishment fit the crime” and whether or not this was “an overreaction by the league.”

One fan says “I feel very sorry for Ben Fanelli and his Family and wish him a speedy recovery. But in no way shape or form should Michael Liambas be suspended for the entire season. Fanelli turned at the last minute, Liambas had no chance to stop. And also if these junior players were made to wear there helmet with the chin strap done up tight we may not see them pop off so easy. Very bad call by the OHL Brass on this one.”

Others feel the hit would not have found the same punishment in the NHL. “It was a dangerous hit but nothing we don’t see in the NHL on a regular basis. Hockey players are getting hurt all too often by boarder line, unnecessary hits, but how can you punish an OHL player for doing what would be expected of him in the NHL? All he has to do is become a key player on a big market team and he can do that as much as he wants to.”

Another believes the league is absolutely correct and is in favor of further discipline to be treated with the same necessary force to ensure that players begin to respect each other and the rules.

But regardless, fans and players alike hope that Fanelli has a speedy recovery from his injuries.

Click here to watch the hit and make your own decision.

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A Look at the Marlies Last 2 Games
Cam Neely’s Comics Come Home Charity Event

Micheal A. Aldred
[email protected]

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  • Ksavz

    @ LuckyCharms..wow are we really gauging how fast people are travelling now when they hit? Maybe the refs should get radar guns and call penalties in respect to their ability to skate. Everybody means to hit with full force, if you don’t u run the risk of hurting urself. Nobody hits half heartedly, thats how you leave the ice with seperated shoulders, concussions etc. Now its understandable to see that their is a run involved, but when ur looking at you feet with the puck beneath you, something like this is always bound to happen and thats why players panic with the puck at their feet and worry more so about on coming traffic then getting the puck to their stick. Now, in no way is this either players fault IMO, it was a very unfortunate hockey play and thats that, but you cannot gauge the hit by the speed the player was skating, the skill of the player, or for that fact “the intention to finish a check”.

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  • TRV

    @leafs_17,

    Nope, have to disagree there. It was PR and CYA (Cover your Ass).

    You shouldn’t suspend a player when no rule was broken. It was the severity of the injury and the publicity of the incident that caused the suspension. It was a bush league call IMO.

    It is interesting that an example was made of a player that has few hockey prospects. I wonder waht would have been done if Kadri had made the hit.

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  • Ksavz

    These things are all apart of the game ^

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  • leafs_17

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlPsx-mEUD8&feature=related

    how a check should be
    hits the player in the chest not the head clark had every opportunity to hit him with his shoulder on this blindside but instead clark cut the player off and placed the hit right to dinos chest
    yes i know this is a different area of play but neverless if that hit was a hit in current hockey it would of been all shoulder likely to dinos head

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  • lonsmos2

    Totally over the top way too long, listened to Branch on TV today and from what I could gather he sid he didn’t think it was an intent to injure and if you didn’t already know the length of suspension you’d have thought that it wasn’t that bad even though the injury was bad it was an accident. I think he is doing it so as to protect the league in the event of a lawsuit from the injured boy’s family. So he hung the other kid out to dry. Absolutely way over the top imo.

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  • The Eraser

    @ TRV
    I agree… if someone like Kadri, or a player with any sort of potential made that hit, it would be a slap on the wrist.

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  • slowburn

    @TRV & Ksavz – well said, agree 100%.

    Personally, the real concern for myself (aside from the player’s health & recovery) is the prevalence of player’s not protecting themselves along the boards or putting themselves in vulnerable positions. Players seem to now assume that because they’re facing the boards, they can’t be hit. According to the rule book, true – however it’s starting to be used as a tactic, often at the last minute when other options have disappeared. The result is often not pretty.

    The speed of the game is increasing quickly. It’s definitely faster since the lock-out. As a consequence of removing the hooking, holding, & interference, we’ve also eliminated some of the internal safety valves of the game. Legal hits were once called ‘good hard checks’ – however these have become devastating checks (yet legal) due to increased speed & the power of todays player.

    We micro-analyze every hit 75 different ways, 24/7 for weeks each time. Through all the ‘spin’, we often fail to look at root cause.

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  • bluetinge

    Wow. You guys are defending this guy…really? He’s all bush league as seen in is 60 games played, 5 points and 169 PIM last year. He’s a total waste and here we have other bush league players defending him. Nice!

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  • TRV

    @slowburn

    I agree and would add that the players are also flying around in suits of armour. I think that the equipment, particularly the shoulder pads, knee pads and elbow pads are a part of the problem. Even the sticks. Every player has a bullet for a shot and they are so light that they have no control over them. Al Strachen is right in the this respect.

    Put the players in 1970′s equipment (except the helmet and the cup) and give them a wooden stick, players would think twice about flying into the corner to deliver a hit.

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  • TRV

    @bluetinge

    Not defending the hit. I did not like what I saw. But, the guy is not a star trek away team member extra. IMO is being singled out because of who he is. And, his hit was legal accoording to the OHL.

    Something like this could have, and should have, been forseen and rules put in place to prevent it. It is classic CYA. And, the OHL can do because there is no players union and most of the players are pieces of meat, no better than slaves, and can be discarded at will.

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  • leafs_17

    so what would u rather see one player made an example of or these’s types of hits to continue

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  • leafs_17

    he can still play the game just not in the OHL ECHL and the AHL are still available for him to play in (if he has the talent to continue his career) Steve Downie is still in the league is he not (not the best example but is the first one that comes to mind)

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  • TRV

    I just read in the Toronto star that the guy was given a match boarding penalty for the hit. I heard CBC radio that it was clean. What is the scoop here?

    I may have revise my opinion.

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  • mapleleafsforever

    The punishment is harsh but appropriate.
    .
    It may not seem right, but in situations like these the punishment should be adapted to the extent of the injury. That might not seem ‘fair’ to the guilty party but players need to be held accountable for the consequences of their actions.
    .
    Still not convinced? (Disclaimer: Before you read further understand that I am making a comparison and NOT suggesting that the Liambas hit is even close to being as egregious as something like murder.)
    .
    What’s the difference between Murder and Attempted Murder? Not the actions of the assailant, but the status of the victim. If you nitpick, second-guess and try to figure out the “intent” behind the hit you will never arrive at a verdict that satisfies everybody. If it is firmly established that the *consequences* of an action will determine the punishment, players will think twice or even three times before they skate full-speed from the blueline to crush a player into the end boards. It shouldn’t matter if there was “intent to injure” or they were just “finishing a check”.
    .
    There will always be subjectivity involved because players get injured on apparently harmless plays all the time. But full-speed, kevlar-reinforced, elbows-first checks need to be eliminated from the game. Period.

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  • TRV

    Well, what is the difference between 1 st degree murder and manslaughter? I suspect that penalty for attempted muder is most likely higher than for manslaugter

    Hockey is no different that football. The mentality when a player hits another is the hurt him, not injury them, but to hurt them enough to make him think twice about handling the puck or football again. As well,

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  • leafs_20

    Hey Aldred, I watched hockey central at noon and didn’t hear anything about Gus.

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  • peterbleafs

    I cant understand why this is a suspension at all. It was a pretty ordinary hit. A bit from behind, so maybe a few games. Looks to me like this guy was scape goated for something. Not sure if he has a history or not.

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  • cobjae

    I actually created an account on wordpress to post in this thread. I thoroughly enjoy the site and have been reading for a better part of the past year. I feel the media and various online discussions have been missing the point, both with weighing in on the legality of the hit and the suspension handed out to Liambas.

    I live in the Kitchener-Waterloo region and I am an avid hockey fan and long time hockey player. I am in no way a Rangers fan (I don’t even follow the OHL much at all). I went to my first OHL game in about 10 years last Friday on a whim, mostly because my friend had free tickets. This obviously means I saw the hit that could very well serve as a career-ender for both Liambas and Fanelli. I’m going to try and weigh in on what I saw in an as unbiased fashion as possible.

    Here is what I saw:
    Before the hit I actually had my eye on Liambas. He was easily the fastest skater on the ice for the short moment. As things started to unfold I could tell a brutal hit was about to follow. My first observation here is that Liambas had Fanelli in his sights from just inside the blue line, he accelerated full speed at his target for quite a few strides.

    As quick as the crowd gasped at the intensity of the hit, there was utter silence. For a few seconds, Fanelli’s face was shown on the scoreboard displays (complete with pool of blood). What followed was about 40mins of feeling sick to my stomach/worried about the situation (and from what I hear mostly everyone felt that way at the Aud). The rest of the game was lacking in physical presence (understandable). Throughout the game, the hardcore Rangers fans were calling for blood, mad at the refs, etc. (just highly emotional). The cleanup afterwards was disgusting to say the least, I feel bad for parents who had brought their kids that night.

    That’s how I saw it, it has something that has stuck with me for just under a week now. My honest opinion is that the media is making faulty judgements regarding the hits nature. It was vicious, there is no way around it. Of course Liambas wasn’t out to break bones or cause anything near the kind of trauma that Fanelli has been recovering from, but the point stands that he caused it.

    If you beat someone up with the intent of teaching them a lesson and giving them some bruises to remind them of it, you may have to deal with our legal system (and may receive a criminal record). If that person ends up dying from their injuries, you are charged with manslaughter. This is how our nation deals with violence (i.e. sentencing is a combination of result and intent). Liambas clearly did not intend on hurting Fanelli this way, but he provided the vicious blow to cause it. If the hit wasn’t into the metal separating panes of glass, we wouldn’t be hear discussing this. It is horrible luck for all parties involved, I just don’t understand those complaining about Liambas’ season-ending suspension. This is the way we work people, get with the program. I highly doubt Liambas would have mentally up to the task of playing competitively again based on what those close to him have said regarding his state of mind anyways.

    In summary: sentencing is based on a combination of result and intent. Had Liambas’ intent been different, I’m sure he’d be answering to the legal system himself right now.

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  • glgbill

    Great post by cobjae (hand clap…)

    Hits of that type have nothing to do with separating a player from the puck, and everything to do with injuring another player. How much “injury” is intended? Enough to take a player off his game, to intimidate him or his teammates, or knock a guy out for a few shifts or for the rest of the game. Liambas never attempted to end a player’s career, but he did attempt all of the above. Sometimes, though, things go awry.

    The punishment fits the outcome.

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  • bluetinge

    He’s a cheap player period. Just watch right after the hit, he cross-checks another player in the face. There’s no place for a dirty, bush league player like Liambas on any ice surface. Let him try that in the beer leagues that he’s gonna have to settle for, he wouldn’t get off the ice alive then.

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  • Julie Sucks

    Kudos to branch. These are kids playing in this league. Hockey’s become too dangerous. It’s just a freaking game. If you don’t think that kid was trying to injure the other one, you’re crazy. He took a 40 foot run at him with everything he had and blindsided him. When you come in like that, you know there’s potential to seriously hurt someone. And therein lies the problem.

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  • http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com Pension Plan Puppets

    @guccilittlepiggy Did you see the hit?

    Liambas is charging in from the blueline. Yes, Fanelli turns but Liambas was looking to destroy him anyway. The helmet doesn’t pop off because he’s wearing it incorrectly but because of the violence of the hit.

    @glgbill is bang on. Liambas was going in with the intention to absolutely destroy Fanelli and both were unlucky that Fanelli turned at the last second. At the end of the day, like Bob McKenzie said, this hit wasn’t a hockey play so much as an attempt to hit someone as hard as possible.

    It sucks for Liambas because he’d never get this kind of penalty in the NHL or if he was a star player but at the end of the day he’s a nobody overager and it’s easy to send a message with him.

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