Source: TSN

TORONTO -- The Ontario Hockey League came down hard on Erie Otters forward Michael Liambas on Wednesday, suspending him for the entire season after a hit that left his opponent with serious head injuries.

Liambas was assessed a match penalty for boarding after his hit on Ben Fanelli of the Kitchener Rangers in a game last Friday.

Fanelli's helmet flew off and he fell unconscious to the ice before he was taken to a local hospital in an ambulance. He was later airlifted to Hamilton General Hospital with skull and facial fractures.

Fanelli's condition has been upgraded to serious but stable, the OHL team said on its website.

League commissioner David Branch issued a statement on the suspension after a league review.

"Players must understand they shall be held accountable for their actions," Branch said. "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."

Fanelli is four years younger than the 20-year-old Liambas, who has now played his last OHL game.

Liambas is a five-foot-nine 200-pounder. Fanelli, who is four inches taller than Liambas but 25 pounds lighter, had one assist in seven games for the Rangers.

He was a candidate to play for Ontario at the World Under-17 Challenge from Dec. 26 to Jan. 4 in Timmins, Ont., according to Rangers head coach Steve Spott.

"He's a player that we felt had the opportunity not only to be a great player for Kitchener, but I believe had an opportunity, and I still hope he has an opportunity, to be a professional hockey player," Spott said.

The Rangers travel to Peterborough to play the Petes on Thursday. Erie returns to the ice Friday against visiting Niagara.

now im gonna pout and gop back to work

After seeing this hit over and over, I really do truely believe that this penalty is much to harsh! Fanelli seemed to turn as he passes the puck of. Seeing different angles, its clear that Liambas doesn't not hit Fanelli with his elbow or leave his feet. This was more a case of a solid bodycheck where Fanelli did not use his chinstrap in the appropriate manner and it came flying off.

You never like to see an injury like this in hockey and I wish Mr. Fanelli a speedy recovery and hope he can get back on the ice again. David Branch is WAY over reacting!

and i am inclined to think the suspension will be reduced under appeal

"In the purest sense nobody is saying the hit was illegal, but it is our opinion the distance he traveled and the speed at which he chose to travel at did not demonstrate sufficient respect. If there is an injury then you are going to be held accountable."
David Branch

What exactly are you trying to say Mr. Branch?
Sounds much like Mr. Obama's "I didn't calibrate my words correctly".
There has been lots of time since the hit to get the message out as to what the League's take is. This is another example of poor communication... "..in the purest sense...".

Not surprising considering the media attention this received. If there is one thing Branch doesn't like it is negative media.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lflguc3ZJcM&feature=related

heres the hit for anyone that did not see it !!

So Branch is saying the hit was not illegal, but he hit him too hard.

Excellent work Mr. Branch

"First step to receiving help is helping yourself."

"Looking at what you are not doing is just another way of doing nothing."

From the video posted here, which is the first I have seen the hit, he was still moving his feet right through the check; which means, in the "purest sense" it IS an illegal hit. To leave your feet or keep them moving through a hit is charging and creates a dangerous checking situation.

The issue Mr. Branch has CREATED is saying that the hit was not illegal.

I agree. It totally contradicts suspending the player.

i agree that this suspension is far too harsh for what has occured.

yes liambis was probably charging with intent on delivering a huge hit. so give him 10-15 games

the reason this hit looks so vicious is because the player being hit turned away from the hit. had he taken it head on it would have likely resulted in something similar to the kessel hit last night.


what can be learned from this is that you need to keep your head up and if you are delivering the hit you hit the person you dont need to completely destroy them.

Craig Shaw
Huntsville Otters

I watched City sports tonight and the reporter said that Liambis is devastated by the injury to Fanelli after his body check. The straight "A" student is now attending counselling. I am sure that this young man feels horrible after hitting him so hard, dirty hit or not. This is something that he'll have to live with the rest of his life and something that he will never forget. I pray both of these young hockey players come out of this OK.

Liambas did come a long way to make the hit, but he was forechecking and that's his job. And if you look closely you can clearly see Fanelli turning his back on Liambas just before contact. Not having his chin strap securely fastened also didn't help his cause.
I hope the kid makes a full recovery, but I think even 10 to 15 games is harsh, let alone an entire season. It's a contact sport. I don't even buy the argument that Liambas came a long way to make the hit. He's a winger trying to establish a forecheck. If Fanelli doesn't turn his back on him he still takes a huge hit, but he quite likely doesn't whack his forehead off the boards.

Not to downplay the serious results of the nasty hit, but also notice that his head hits the turnbuckle as his helmet is coming off. I'm sure there would have been enough of an injury hitting the glass, let alone the turnbuckle.

Not only is the lesson to keep your head up, but especially when handling the puck in Death Valley, the infamous area behind the goal line that stretches to about 10 feet either side of the net. I've seen hundreds of kids over the years get just creamed for playing with the puck and not being aware in this area.
Once again, it's a CONTACT SPORT played by people wearing razor sharp skates and extremely hard equipment who are travelling very fast with the intent of separating their opponents from the puck, sometimes with thunderous body checks.
It's a tragic incident, but in my opinion it was a clean hit with an unfortunate outcome.
David Branch is just avoiding any fallout from those whiny, light in the loafers do-gooders who also like flag football.

I could not agree with Tim Meeks more !

Maybe 16 year olds should not be playing in the CHL ?











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WEX raises an interesting point. The League has to be forward thinking as a result of this incident. I don't know enough about how the player ages evolved to allow the current format...i.e. number of 16 year olds vs overagers.
What happens the next time there is a serious injury - and there will be one? Is the Fanelli hit the precedent for further decisions? How do you prove intent?
If the age gap continues who is ultimately liable for injuries to the younger and usually less physically developed player ?
The injury Law Firms are getting more involved in sports so hockey has some homework to do or the outside vultures will be determining the rules of engagement.
On another note a GOOGLE news search shows everybody is covering this..N.Y. Times ,BBC , Washington Post etc. Curious as to how many Junior hockey stories they've had,combined,in the last year.

[as I posted on Tigerpaws, with slight changes]

I am with Tim & Wex here all the way.

Anyone who thinks Liambas should be suspended for more than 3 games MAX (call it boarding; I'd expect that. Initially a 2 min call then changed to 5 due to injuries incurred, that's in the rule book; fine; even Branch himself said it wasn't a head hit), or who thinks his hit was blatantly illegal or vicious then simply hasn't played competitive contact sports such as hockey at a high level - or certainly not at an intensity level where I'd want him as my team mate!

Again; very unfortunate outcome for the D-man Fanelli, BUT the suspension penalty shouldn't be based on end result but rather simply on the base play itself: D behind net with puck; forward goes in hard on forecheck, as every coach tells them to do, as they practice to do, and he finishes his check. Sadly the D isn't aware of the forward's presence which he should be, and then turns his back last second - neither which are the fault of the forward. Helmet not secured properly and pops off, head hits stanchion, then ice, unprotected, resulting in major head trauma.

If the forward DOESN'T finish his hit, he gets reamed by his coach on the bench - you KNOW that.

I am worried now for my kid who has always been told to forecheck hard and finish his checks. He has also always been instructed to be AWARE of his opponent's position on the ice (especially when in the Death Valley zone, as Tim points out) and above all to prepare for contact and brace for the hit against the boards - not 1 foot out from boards in the 'paralysis zone' - and to NEVER turn your back on a hit).
If it was my kid that got drilled, I'd say give the forward 5 for boarding (knowing the things my kid should have done differently to prepare for the hit), but for God's sake don't take away his career!

The 16 yr old vs 20 yr old argument is simply ridiculous. Should younger players have different colored pants to distinguish them so they can't be hit, and thus can't deliver hits? Was Gudbranson too small for the league last year? The league allows 16 year olds, and parents allow them to play, and the players themselves are fully aware of all risks, so please put that silly argument to rest.

I hope the end result after all this crap is a lesson to kids not to turn away from contact, rather than to make kids shy away from finishing their checks.
The game (and society in general with the heavy overhanded media hype) is already going soft as it is; please don't ruin our game that we love any more than has already been done.

Coaches probably taught Liambus to finish his checks through out his hockey life. He is not overly big at 5'9"/200lbs(as listed on Otters site).
The problem as I see it is coaching has not caught up with technology. Today's equipment is lighter, but harder and players, because of new techniques, can skate much faster, which results in situations like this.

On the hit, unless Liambus used the Jedi Mind Trick he could not have known Fanelli would turn back at the last instant. In my opinion Fanelli, though inexperienced, is almost more to blame or is coaching to blame or the OHL itself for allowing 20 yr olds to play with/against 16 yr olds.
Maybe, if the 'O' really wants 16 yr olds to play in the league, they should wear different colour pants.

In the end it is my opinion that Branch has passed the buck and reacted to the media. Time for Branch to retire. I think the game is passing him by.


If a petition for Mike Liambus to be reinstated has not been started, I may start one.











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Let me be the second to sign the petition after you Wex.
Any coach I ever had, and the majority of the hundreds of others I've interviewed over the years, would chew my ass off if I didn't go hard on the forecheck or finish my checks. Mike Liambas is not a sniper, he's a mucker and must earn every second of his ice time. If you stop allowing muckers to do their jobs you might as well save a ton of money on arenas and just let the whiz kids fool around on ponds.

Playing the devils advocate.
Look at the video from the different angles, and even that is difficult because it is only two dimensional.
The reason the kid turned at the last minute was he turned to shoot the puck around the boards the other way, behind the net. The Erie players hands came up and his shoulder caught the back side of Fanelli's shoulder, driving his upper body into the boards. Because the screen is two dimensional, it is hard to tell how much he was in the blind spot.
Fact is the Erie player started his run from the top the cirle, now how much malice he had in his heart only he knows, but right after the hit he cross checked the other Kitchner player beside the net in the head. This was not completing the check, he wanted to run Fanelli through the boards. The Erie player has had a history of it.
As for Branch's suspension, it will probably be appealed, and the sentence reduced this time. But sends the message to other players, you might not be as lucky.