SPHL suspends player 28 games after hit that left goalie hospitalized
The Southern Professional Hockey League dropped the hammer after a vicious hit that left its top goaltender in the hospital with a severe concussion.
By
Chris Peters
•
3 min read
The Southern Professional Hockey League dropped the hammer on Columbus Cottonmouths forward Craig Simchuk after an incident from a game this weekend against the Peoria Rivermen. Simchuk was suspended 28 games for his hit on Rivermen goalie Kyle Rank, which left Rank unconscious and later hospitalized. Cottonmouths head coach Jerome Bechard has also been suspended six games.
Here’s a look at the hit in question, which we covered the day after it happened:
After the game, Peoria coach Jean-Guy Trudel accused Bechard of ordering his players to injure Rank. Bechard denied it, and the SPHL said they found no evidence of such an order being given, but they chose to suspend Bechard six games anyway for failing to control his team and creating an environment that contributed to Simchuk's actions.
It was suggested that Simchuk’s hit on Rank was in retaliation for a collision that involved Cottonmouths goalie Shannon Szabados, the only woman in men’s professional ice hockey and a Canadian Olympian. The league said that it reviewed that play as well, but found no evidence of it being anything more than the normal contact that comes over the course of the game.
Here’s more from the SPHL on the lengthy suspensions:
Regarding perceived events involving the Columbus goaltender that Mr. Simchuk referred to in his statement as a rationale for his actions, the Columbus organization submitted neither a request for review of incident nor a grievance form regarding the officiating in this regard from Friday’s game. In addition, review of the game video on Saturday showed nothing that doesn’t occasionally occur over the course of a professional hockey game involving incidental contact with a goaltender.
As it relates to Mr. Simchuk, there is no place in hockey for his actions and deliberately injuring an opposing player will be met with swift and severe punishment and based on our review, we found no corroborating evidence that Mr. Simchuk was directly instructed to injure Peoria goaltender Kyle Rank.
Again, while there was no evidence he instructed Mr. Simchuk’s actions, Coach Jerome Bechard bears responsibility for failing to control the actions of his players and contributing to the atmosphere on the bench to the extent Mr. Simchuk felt pressured to do something from the coaching staff. As a member of the league’s Board of Governors, Mr. Bechard has to be held to a higher standard and we feel the unprecedented length of this suspension serves to send that message.
The SPHL season lasts 56 games, so Simchuk will miss at least half of the season due to suspension. Columbus has played 19 games so far.
Rank was labeled as having a “severe concussion” and was struggling with the symptoms. Rank told Dave Eminian of the Peoria Journal Star that he did not remember the hit that knocked him out of the game. There is no timetable for his return according to Eminian.
It’s an ugly incident for the SPHL as the league continues to try to gain more and more credibility and prove it's more than a league with a lot of fights. The single-A hockey league has grown to 10 teams in recent years and just last season, Chicago Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling became the first SPHL alumnus to reach the NHL. He ended the year with his name on the Stanley Cup. They’ve had some positive momentum, so they had no choice but to come down hard on both Simchuk and Bechard.
Now they’ll have to hope the league’s two-time defending goalie of the year is able to return to health sooner than later after this disturbing incident.
