QMJHL Suspends Cormier for the Season

Patrice Cormier of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies will not be allowed back on the ice in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this season or for the playoffs. The league issued the suspension this morning. This is the penalty for his open-ice elbow to the head of the Quebec Remparts' Mikael Tam on Jan. 17.

Cormier, 19, could come back to the league next season as an overage player. The ban does not extend to next season. Cormier is a prospect of the New Jersey Devils, and there is no word on whether the terms of the suspension would be honored by the Devils or the minor pro teams they have working agreements with Lowell of the American Hockey League and Trenton of the East Coast Hockey League. This is part of the story being discussed on the Puck Daddy blog.

Lou Lamoriello, the Devils general manager, could have the option of sending Cormier to a minor pro team in a league that does not honor the QMJHL's ban.

Early this season, Michael Liambas of the Erie Otters was suspended for the year and the playoffs by the Ontario Hockey League after a hit from behind on Ben Fanelli of the Kitchener Rangers.



The OHL recently issued a 20-game suspension to forward Zach Kassian of the Windsor Spitfires for his head shot on the Barrie Colts' Matt Kennedy. TSN and Sportsnet offer reports on the situation.



Say what you will about the borderline hits and the over-the-line actions of the National Hockey League, but all of the actions detailed in the video clips above are by teenagers, basically. And actions learned or tolerated there will come up again should they graduate to a minor pro league or the NHL.

That is why the debate about how the juniors deal with these issues is important to hockey at all levels.

THE SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Pittsburgh 2, at Philadelphia 1
At Carolina 5, Boston 1
At Colorado 4, Dallas 0
The standings are here.
Recap by Sportsnet.
Three stars by Puck Daddy.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Manchester 6, Hartford 1
At Chicago 5, Grand Rapids 1
Norfolk 1, at Lowell 0
Milwaukee 4, at San Antonio 3 SO
Syracuse 4, at Toronto 3 SO
At Providence 3, Springfield 0
At Rochester 3, Adirondack 1
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Kalamazoo 6, Toledo 3
Wheeling 3, at South Carolina 2
Bakersfield 5, at Stockton 2
At Idaho 8, Las Vegas 5
The standings are here.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Chicoutimi 5, Cape Breton 2
Moncton 5, at Quebec 2
Prince Edward Island 2, at Halifax 1 SO
Saint John 8, at Gatineau 0
Shawinigan 5, at Rimouski 0
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Guelph 5, Erie 3
At London 8, Peterborough 2
At Mississauga 5, Sudbury 3
At Ottawa 3, Kingston 0
At Windsor 5, Niagara 2
At Oshawa 3, Saginaw 0
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Calgary 6, Lethbridge 2
Medicine Hat 2, at Edmonton 1
At Portland 3, Vancouver 1
At Everett 3, Spokane 2
Kootenay at Regina PPD
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

Trouble in Calgary, Boston and the QMJHL

Some quick thoughts after a late night in the Lounge.

***San Jose has some of the best restaurants in the nation, that is, if you are only counting those with drive-through lanes and value menus. And Sharks fans were treated to the opening of another drive-through, this one involving the Calgary Flames, who had no answer in a 9-1 loss to the Sharks on Monday night. Eight different scorers.Two goals for Dany Heatley. A full order of heartburn, to go, for Flames Coach Brent Sutter. Click on that link and you will see a picture of a man who doesn't need any late night chili or two-for-99-cent tacos to feel upset after last night's performance by the Flames.

***Boston Herald columnist Steve Buckley doesn't get out much, or at least out to the West Coast much, and it sounds like he wants to give the Bruins a pass for their weak effort Monday afternoon at home against the Ottawa Senators. The trail of tears for the Bruins can be traced to their oh-so-tough three-game visit to California. Oh, did he mention that the Bruins never have to leave the Eastern time zone the rest of the regular season? Checking, checking, looking, searching. Nope. The big, bad, drowsy Bruins will never face the challenges that, say, Vancouver does. The Canucks are in a division with three teams in the Mountain time zone and one in the Central. The Western Conference has teams in the Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern time zones. The Eastern Conference? All in the Eastern time zone. Weak. Lame. Lazy. That's for the column angle, the Bruins' performance and the schedule that tucks the Eastern Conference teams in bed at a reasonable hour for all but a handful of games.

***Patrick King of Sportsnet asks whether the star power of Quebec Major Junior Hockey League player Patrice Cormier will allow him to avoid the type of punishment Michael Liambas drew from the Ontario Hockey League for a hit from behind earlier this season. Cormier, who was the captain of Canada's silver-medal team in the 2010 World Junior Championship tournament, is a top prospect for the New Jersey Devils. Liambas, a role player in the OHL, did not have an NHL team waiting for him. After being banned from the OHL, Liambas fell to the International Hockey League, were he was recently punished for an illegal hit from behind. Cormier, who delivered questionable hits in tune-ups for the WJC, has the support of Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello, who told the Bergen Record he believed that neither criminal charges nor a season-long suspension was warranted for the elbow. The QMJHL gave an indefinite suspension to Cormier on Monday, pending a full review of the incident involving his hit on Quebec's Mikael Tam, who has been released from the hospital. In the meantime, Puck Daddy gives a full review of the situation and what others are saying around junior hockey and the National Hockey League.

THE SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Ottawa 5, at Boston 1
At N.Y. Islanders 4, New Jersey 0
Tampa Bay 3, at Carolina 2
At Columbus 4, St. Louis 2
Buffalo 7, at Phoenix 2
At Florida 1, Atlanta 0
Toronto 4, at Nashville 3
At Dallas 4, Minnesota 3
At Colorado 6, Edmonton 0
At San Jose 9, Calgary 1
The standings are here.
Recap by Sportsnet.
Three stars by Puck Daddy.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
All-Star Skills Competition
Canada 18, Planet USA 12
The recap is here.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE
Charlotte 6, at Gwinnett 4
At Reading 4, Trenton 3
The standings are here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Plymouth 7, Windsor 4
Kitchener 6, at Erie 1
The standings are here.
The Kitchener/Erie recap is here, and the Windsor/Plymouth recap is here.

UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Youngstown 7, Team USA 3
The standings are here.

Spare the Rod, Spoil Hockey's Kids

Bob McKenzie of TSN has had enough of head shots, questionable hits and the reflexive defense of said play by those who say, "If you don't like it, go watch something else."

Here is his comment on Twitter after viewing Patrice Cormier of Rouyn-Noranda drill Quebec's Mikael Tam in overtime on Sunday night in a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game.

This Cormier elbow is sickening on so many levels. I have never been so discouraged about the game of hockey as now.

According to a report on TSN.ca, Tam is in stable condition in hospital and will remain under observation for at least two days. He sustained a trauma to the skull and brain, ano lost several teeth, the report adds. The league, in a posting on its Web site, says the matter is under review and it will have no further comment until a ruling is issued.

Cormier, a prospect of the New Jersey Devils, was ejected and the Remparts defeated the Huskies, 3-2, in a shootout.

High hits at all levels have been either tolerated or punished with short suspensions before. But even those decisions have been met with some push back by those who say stuff happens when you play a contact sport.

We in the Lounge would agree, but the difference here between Cormier's elbow to Tam's head and the hit Colorado's Ryan Wilson delivered on New Jersey's Patrik Elias on Saturday is Wilson's hit is legal and stays within the context of the game.



Wilson is not charging across the ice to plant an elbow. And Wilson stays within the range of the Elias's chest/shoulder. He's playing his man along the boards. (Elias underwent X-rays, Devils GM Lou Lamoriello told the Newark Star-Ledger. Lamoriello added that everything was fine.)

It's the difference between hockey and schoolyard cheap shots. It's time to teach the kids, because if you don't, that behavior will come up again and bloody the face of the game for everyone at every level.

I don't think there is a question here. Cormier's hit has no place in the game. So, based on his actions, does Cormier have a place in the game the rest of the season? The Lounge says no. Arguments?

THE SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Chicago 4, at Detroit 3 SO
At Washington 5, Philadelphia 3
At N.Y. Rangers 6, Montreal 2
At Anaheim 5, Calgary 4
The standings are here.
Recap by Sportsnet.
Three stars by Puck Daddy.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Worcester 4, at Bridgeport 2
At Manchester 4, Hartford 1
At Springfield 6, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 3
At Chicago 3, Peoria 1
Rockford 4, at Grand Rapids 3
At San Antonio 5, Toronto 2
Albany 4, at Providence 1
At Hershey 4, Syracuse 3
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.
The lineup for tonight's AHL All-Star skills contest is here.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE
At South Carolina 5, Gwinnett 4 OT
At Charlotte 4, Kalamazoo 3 SO
At Wheeling 2, Elmira 1
At Toledo 5, Johnstown 4 OT
At Stockton 4, Ontario 2
The standings are here.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Cape Breton 8, Baie-Comeau 0
At Halifax 2, Drummondville 1
At Rimouski 4, Shawinigan 3
Quebec 3, at Rouyn-Noranda 2 SO
At Saint John 6, Chicoutimi 0
At Val-d'Or 2, Lewiston 1
Victoriaville 5, at Montreal 1
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Brampton 5, Sarnia 2
At Guelph 8, Sudbury 3
At Mississauga 2, Owen Sound 1 OT
At Ottawa 3, London 2 SO
Barrie 3, at Saginaw 2
At Oshawa 6, Kingston 5 SO
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Kootenay 3, at Calgary 1
At Chilliwack 5, Red Deer 1
At Moose Jaw 5, Edmonton 3
At Everett 4, Seattle 3 OT
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Waterloo 5, Tri-City 3
Cedar Rapids 2, at Omaha 0
At Sioux Falls 2, Fargo 1 OT
The standings are here.