OHL's IceDogs forced to bench all players for 1 period after league investigation
The strangest penalty that I think I've ever seen.
Just under three years ago the OHL announced a whopping $150,000 fine and an indefinite suspension to Niagara IceDogs minority owner Joey Burke and head coach/minority owner Billy Burke following an investigation in which the OHL uncovered that the pair had made sexist and homophobic remarks against a female IceDogs employee in a group chat.
Unfortunately, under new ownership it appears that things haven't really changed behind the scenes in St. Catherines. Last month the OHL announced that the team was under investigation once again after multiple complaints of inappropriate behaviour involving team staff.
“Recently the League received some complaints regarding the organizational culture of the Niagara IceDogs,” the OHL wrote in a statement to TSN. “The league takes these matters very seriously and has launched a third-party internal investigation into the allegations.
Yesterday, with no real pre-game announcement the IceDogs were forced to dress and bench their entire roster for an entire period... in a playoff game.
Um... excuse me?!
That's right, the team was under 'disciplinary measures' that required all players in their lineup to sit out for one period in playoff series against the Barrie Colts.
From OHL insider Brandon Caputo:
So... how did things play out? Well, first up they lost, but not without a valiant effort. The team nearly forced a comeback, but ultimately fell short in Game 2. According to Caputo the IceDogs ran two forward lines and just three defensemen for the first period of the game. They then changed goalies and ran another two forward lines and three defensemen for the 2nd period. In effect they just swapped out units for each period.
Again from Caputo:
Now before you go off on the OHL for such a ridiculous ruling, there are rumors that this penalty was actually suggested by the team to the league after they were thrown out of a local movie theatre.
Josh Sweetland, with OHL communications, confirmed the sanctions were imposed following an incident during a showing of the spy thriller “Black Bag” at Landmark Cinemas at Pen Centre March 25. The Standard was told by a moviegoer the “absolutely egregious behaviour” involved yelling and “throwing food across the room.”
“Yes, your assessment is accurate regarding the movie theatre matter,” Sweetland wrote in an email. “There are no further penalties pertaining to this latest incident at this time.”
While the team has paid its penalty for the movie theatre incident, Sweetland and the OHL confirmed that the investigation into the team's culture is still under review.
Sweetland said the review, which is being conducted by a Toronto law firm specializing in workplace law, “seeks to identify and effectively address recent complaints regarding the organization’s culture.”
All of this is to say that there still be a higher price to pay for this team's conduct.
