Quote by: DMan

Here's another interesting one from Daniel Coyle:
The Power of Crumminess

Dave - good one! Here it is... Thanks for alerting us!

Dean
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THE POWER OF CRUMMINESS

Here’s a little-appreciated fact about talent hotbeds: their facilities tend to be rundown. Rusty. Makeshift. Overcrowded.

In a word, crummy.

Exhibit A could be the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, which has produced Michael Phelps and a squadron of other top national swimmers despite its considerably-less-than-lovely setting. Or Anand Kumar’s tin-roof math class in India where an astounding 78 percent of the students are accepted to India’s Harvard, the Indian Institutes of Technology. Or any of another dozen other hotbeds where this precise atmosphere is repeated so often that it stops feeling like a coincidence, and starts to feel more like a fingerprint, or a mathematical equation: Crumminess + Crowdedness = Beautiful Talent.

This strikes most of us as surprising, because to the modern American/European mind, crumminess and crowdedness are considered deeply undesirable. We instinctively strive for groomed fields, top-level technology, comfortable surroundings — and enough space where each age group can gather in splendid isolation.

The question is, is talent developed better in roomy, well-appointed facilities? Or is there something else going on in these remote hotbeds? To put it simply, are there any advantages to being crummy and crowded?

We get an interesting data point from Vermont’s Burke Mountain Academy, a bona fide hotbed of downhill skiing talent (it’s produced 40-plus Olympians in its 30 years). Burke’s facility is far from rundown (though the classrooms and dorms tend toward the spartan), but it has two features that set it apart: an undersized ski hill, and an ancient, creaking beast of a ski lift that, by all appearances, should have been replaced long ago. It’s an old-fashioned poma lift, and it works like this: you stand on the snow, grab onto a bar/seat contraption, and get dragged uphill.

Most visitors who come to Burke see the old poma lift and presume that it’ll be replaced soon by something faster and more efficient. But the teachers and coaches of Burke would never think of it. To their minds, the poma lift might be their most valuable resource.

From the poma lift, young skiers get a catbird seat to watch the older, better skiers make turns. That physical closeness transforms the small ski hill into a rich kingdom of watching and learning, not to mention motivation. Kids on that poma lift receive the privilege of seeing up close who they might become, if they work hard.

We’re all acquainted with the phenomenon of the scruffy underdog from the remote country who rises up and defeats big, rich Goliath — we see it all the time in sports, music, and business. And we naturally interpret their success as evidence of the superior hunger of poor countries. They want it more. They’re tougher. They’re quintessential underdogs.

But I think Burke and the other hotbeds gives us a new way to think about underdogs. Crumminess and crowdedness, used properly, can be advantages. The skiers from Burke only look like underdogs — in fact, they’re the overdogs, because they’ve designed the perfect space to create deeper, better practice and ignite more motivation.

So what do the rest of us do? Should we demolish our good facilities and replace them with crowded, tin-roofed structures? Well, not quite. I think it’s more useful to look closely at the useful elements from the hotbeds and try to copy them. A few ideas:

* 1. Find ways to mix age groups. Isolation diminishes motivation. Nothing creates effort and intensity like staring at older talent, someone who you want to become. Putting groups together — even in passing, as on the poma lift — injects a burst of motivational electricity.
* 2. Aim to make facilities spartan and simple. Research shows that luxurious surroundings diminish effort — and why not? It’s a signal to our unconscious minds that we’ve got it made — why should we keep taking risks and working hard?
* 3. When given the choice, invest in people over facilities. Teachers are the real engine of the day-by-day learning process that drives any hotbed. The addition of one master teacher creates more talent than a million dollars’ worth of bricks and mortar.

P.S. — Okay, what do you think? What would you do if you received a check for $50,000 tomorrow to help develop talent in your team/school? Please rank the following possibilities from most-effective to least-effective:

* 1. Pay for new facilities/equipment
* 2. Hire the single best teacher/coach you can find
* 3. Bring in a top-notch series of camps/seminars for students and teachers
* 4. Pay existing teachers/coaches more
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Dean's rankings (assuming I had primarily average teachers / coaches and one or two whom were above average; assuming I had the basics so far as equipment; knowing $50k would be a mere drop in the bucket so far as a new facility):

1. Hire the single best teacher/coach you can find. (Release those who are average.)
2. Pay the two above average existing teachers/coaches more. (#1 & #2 - It is about identifying, recruiting and retaining GOOD PEOPLE first.)
3. Bring in a top-notch series of camps / seminars for students and teachers
4. Pay for new facilities/equipment (if I didn't NEED new stuff.)

Cherry: Get rid of hitting

By IAN BUSBY, Calgary Sun February 18, 2011



Don Cherry has a quick and easy solution for eliminating all head shots and concussions in hockey.

Just get rid of the hitting.

No one wants to do that, especially not Cherry.

But fingers are being pointed starting at the NHL level on down for some of the vicious blindside hits that rattled the likes of Marc Savard and Sidney Crosby.

“Blindside hitting is the one you are trying to get rid of. Head-first into the boards is the other one we need to get rid of,” said Cherry, in Calgary for the Heritage Classic, speaking Friday at the Cold-FX Salute to Hockey Moms luncheon.

While Cherry applauds the 10-year-old Calgary minor hockey player who spoke out after receiving a blindside hit, the CBC commentator said kids need to learn how to protect themselves.

Cherry has tried for years to get rid of checking from behind, going as far as to hand out ‘stop’ stickers for helmets, but it is still a problem.

“If you are going head first into the boards, that goes along with the not let them hit until they are 12 years old,” Cherry said. “They have no idea how to get ready for a hit. They have no idea how to take blind passes up the middle.

“They go into the corners straight. When they hit 13 and they open up hitting, they are with guys that know how to hit, and they don’t know how to receive a hit.”

The 10-year-old who wrote to the Sun said players his age are just emulating what they see in the NHL.

“It’s good that the kid writes in,’ Cherry said.

Cherry would argue that protection has caused a lot of the problems.

When he was a professional player, he didn’t wear a helmet and he said the concussion problems weren’t as bad as they are now.

“In 1979, I predicted they would have concussions,” Cherry said about the league-mandated helmet rule.

“We all had respect for the head. You would never think about blindsiding a guy. You would never think about hitting somebody head-first into the boards.”

Head injuries a blow to NHL bravado

By Amber Hildebrandt, CBC News February 21, 2011


The loss of NHL star Sidney Crosby to a concussion is a reminder that all players are vulnerable to the injury, and experts are warning that sports culture must change.

Losing NHL star Sidney Crosby to a concussion is a reminder that all players are vulnerable, Canadian hockey Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne says.

"That's the scary part," said the retired NHL player. "Now it's affecting our superstars. It takes that to review what's happening."

But ask Dionne about the NHL's latest high-profile hit on Maple Leaf Mikhail Grabovski - who experts believe suffered a concussion after two hard hits in the Feb. 15 game but was allowed back on the ice and scored the winning goal - and he appears to take a more typically tough-guy approach.

"Absolutely," Grabovski should've been allowed back on the ice after a second hit, Dionne said. "He came back and proved it.

"I watched him play against Buffalo," Dionne said, referring to a later game. "I think he's playing better than ever. They woke him up or something."

Dionne, who played 18 seasons in the NHL, is indicative of a bravado that persists in the National Hockey League - an attitude that experts say needs to change.

Dr. Richard Wennberg, a neurologist and concussion expert at the University of Toronto, says that watching Grabovski slip and slide as he tried to rise to his feet and the rubbing of his neck once he reached the bench were clear indications to him that the hockey player had a concussion.

"By observation, it can be stated with certainty that he had a concussion," Wennberg said. "It would be against current medical management to continue playing the game."

But continue he did. Leafs management said Grabovski responded coherently to questions. Some critics said a doctor should have made the call instead of a trainer and that Grabovski should have been taken away for 15 minutes for an assessment.
NHL urged to adopt return-to-play protocol

Crosby, the Pittsburgh Penguins captain, has been out of action since Jan. 6 after taking hits to the head in successive games. He says he expects to play again this season but admits he can't be sure.

Dustin Fink, a trainer who tracks concussions on his blog Theconcussionblog.com, says the NHL is behind the times when it comes to in-game diagnosis and return-to-play protocol for concussions.

National Football League players who show symptoms of a concussion aren't allowed to return to play the same day. They must be symptom-free and cleared by an independent neurologist before returning to the field.

"The bigger sports tend to be a lot less proactive," Fink said. "They are protecting their multibillion-dollar industries and their players themselves."
Concussion symptoms

Classic concussion symptoms include confusion and amnesia, especially of the event that caused the concussion.

Other immediate symptoms may include:

* Headache.
* Dizziness.
* Ringing in the ears.
* Nausea or vomiting.
* Slurred speech.
* Fatigue.

For more on this and other questions, see our FAQs. [http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/02/17/f-concussions-what-they-are-faq.html]

Professional football and hockey leagues aren't the only ones struggling to minimize the risk of concussions.

U.S. downhill skier Lindsey Vonn participated in the World Cup on Feb. 13, winning silver, despite later admissions she felt foggy after a concussion suffered during training. The U.S. lacrosse league is currently debating whether to require girls to wear helmets - and wondering whether extra armour might actually increase aggression.
33 concussions despite rule

Fink acknowledges the NHL at least introduced Rule 48 - which makes blindside head hits illegal - but says it's not enough. Despite that rule, the league saw 33 reported concussions by Dec. 1, as many by that date as in the previous season in total.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has said the number of concussions are up this season due to accidental or inadvertent collisions, but the number caused by blindside hits are down.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there may be up to 3.8 million sports and recreation-related concussions in the U.S. each year, with concussions accounting for one in 10 of all sports injuries.

Fink says the hockey league needs to create a standard return-to-play protocol for concussions in line with the NFL's and give medical teams the independent power to decide whether to pull a player.

But he understands the difficulties in changing the culture.

"Hockey is a tough-guy sport. You definitely don't want to show weakness with your opponent," Fink said

In the end, he says, it's an important issue that needs to be taken seriously by players, management and the league.

"I don't care how tough you are," Fink said. "You only have one brain. We can't fix that brain."
Sports culture a major barrier: doctor
Injuries to young athletes

Michael Stuart, chief medical officer at USA Hockey, is behind a proposal to raise the age of bodychecking in U.S. youth hockey. Stuart says there's more than enough evidence for Canada to do the same - and a large reason for that is a study conducted by the University of Calgary that showed bodychecking in Pee Wee hockey more than tripled the risk of concussion and injury. Find out more. [http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/02/21/concussion-hockey-bodycheck-age.html]

However, despite an evolving wealth of knowledge about concussions, the culture in sports remains an impediment, says Paul Echlin, a sports medicine physician based in London, Ont.

"The No. 1 thing is not wanting to leave the playing field or the ice surface or the football field regardless," Echlin said. "Unless somebody drags you off, you're not going to go."

Echlin was the lead author of a study on concussions in hockey players published in the Neurosurgical Focus journal in November 2010 that found a lack of standardized knowledge among athletes, coaches, trainers and parents about the signs and symptoms of a concussion.

The concussion expert says it's what leagues do with the information that is telling.

"When you start to turn your head when you know this knowledge, that's a problem," Echlin said.
Players never had it so good: Dionne

However, Dionne argues, players have never had it so good - with their health so top of mind.
Career-ending concussions

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young, New England Revolution soccer player Taylor Twellman, Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore - a photo gallery showcases these and other professional athletes [http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/photos/82#igimgid_419] whose careers have been hampered or ended by concussions.

"We never had this," said Dionne, who played from 1971 to 1989 for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers. "I think the players' association recognizes that we have to protect our players, so is the league, the insurance companies.... And on top of that, the doctors are right there."

But Dionne, who says he suffered a single concussion during an NHL career nearly two decades long, worries that concussions are becoming more prevalent because the sport is getting faster, players are bigger and stronger, and hard equipment is less forgiving.

"There will always be concussions," said neurologist Wennberg. "There's no way to legislate concussions out of the game."

Both Dionne and Wennberg suggest part of the solution could be to increase the rink size, a change that studies show reduces contact.

Dionne, though, may have a simpler idea.

"The little guys have the stop sign," Dionne laughed, referring to use in the minor leagues of a stop sign to reduce hits from behind. "Maybe we're going to have to do this ourselves!"

John Russo writes a lot of good articles for the "Let's Play Hockey" magazine from Minnesota.

http://www.letsplayhockey.com/russoarchive.html he covers a lot of topics and has good ideas.

Ban bodychecking? Absolutely

By Kim Gray Thursday, Feb 24 2011
Kim Gray's Modern Family Blog


Here's something to think about if you haven't been following the news and you happen to be a hockey parent.

Bodychecking is legal at 11 years old across Canada - except in Quebec.

Bodychecking is not permitted in La Belle Province until the kids are 13 years of age.

A recent University of Calgary study showed that Alberta Pee Wee leagues (where kids are 11 and 12 years old) suffered 73 concussions over the same period of time only 20 of these injuries occurred in Quebec among the same age group.

Curiously, USA Hockey - a body which governs U.S. amateur hockey - will be voting on a proposed rule to ban bodychecking nationwide until players turn 13 years old.

This vote, to take place in June, is in part a response to the Canadian study just referenced.

Chief medical officer for USA Hockey - Michael Stuart - has said he's concerned younger players don't have the physical and mental awareness required to execute safe and legal bodychecks, which results in risky and sometimes damaging collisions on ice between players.

All factors considered, it seems a country-wide decision to ban bodychecking until players are 13 is a no-brainer.

Care to comment?

American model growing game at youth level

Saturday, 01.29.2011
By Mike G. Morreale - NHL.com Staff Writer


RALEIGH, N.C. -- Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. can't wait for the day when General Manager Jim Rutherford can step to the podium at the NHL Entry Draft and announce the name of a player born and trained from within the state.

The thing is, that day is quickly approaching due in large part to the increased support and widespread implementation of the American Developmental Model (ADM), a new philosophy in age-appropriate athlete development launched by USA Hockey in January 2009.

Within the last year, athletes from Carolina Youth Hockey programs have earned scholarships to the University of North Dakota men's program and the women's program at Boston College.

As part of this year's NHL All-Star Weekend, an ADM conference and clinic was held at the Raleigh RecZone on Saturday afternoon, marking the second time ADM regional manager Scott Paluch has helped conduct a clinic in the area.

"We want to get more kids on the ice to play, teach them how to play better and get them to love the game and play it longer," USA Hockey executive director Dave Ogrean said. "Hockey in America is growing and getting better. We're interested in having more Americans in the NHL; 80 percent of the clubs in the NHL are from the U.S. Our relationship with the League is better than it's ever been. The growth has been great."

Along with Karmanos Jr., Paluch and Ogrean, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke also spoke to the crowd inside the lobby area of the RecZone.

"Everything an athlete in another sport is asked to do, we ask our athletes to do on a piece of steel about an eighth-of-an-inch wide," Burke said. "This is the way forward; this is not a shot in the dark. This is not something a bunch of people who never played hockey sat around and thought about. We studied how they developed players in Europe, in Sweden and Finland, and put this program together. We believe it's the right way forward. A ton a research went into this and the goal is to get as many kids on the ice and have them enjoy the game."

With USA Hockey's Red, White and Blue initiative, coaches can promote creativity among players, increase player involvement and create a positive environment to learn and play.

"We view this as a revolutionary model," Commissioner Bettman said. "USA Hockey developed a proven system for developing young athletes. The ADM will have the effect of increasing player participation, creating a positive environment for children to learn and play hockey, and it will facilitate skill development among young players. Thanks to the hard work of NHL member clubs, coaches and players and alumni, ADM clinics and demos around the NHL have been an on-going and important role to validate this model and increase youth participation."

The model includes shrinking the ice surface during practices that now see players split up and rotate throughout six different stations to hone a specific set of skills. Now, less time is wasted during practice and all players touch the puck more. USA Hockey believes that dynamic will foster a greater passion for the sport among young players.

The smaller-ice philosophy is especially important in teaching players skill without worrying about the technical aspects of the game, such as positioning, staying in lanes or skating offside.

"We think it's an exciting development for hockey in this country," Bettman continued. "We view the relationship with USA Hockey to not only be important, but vital. The more we do at the grass-roots level, the more players develop into NHL players."
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RALEIGH, N.C. -- There's a pretty significant proposal up for vote during USA Hockey's Annual Congress meeting June 8-11 in Colorado Springs, Co.

It includes a proposed modification that would prohibit body checking in games for youth hockey players until they reach bantam level (13-14 years old). The current rule allows checking in games at the pee-wee level (11-12 years old).

"Body contact and body checking is a fundamental and special skill and you have to be able to teach it … not just say, 'Go and do it,' " USA Hockey Executive Director Dave Ogrean told NHL.com

The proposal appears to be a foregone conclusion.

"There's been a lot of safety and health-related issues and feedback from former players, who are now coaches, about the distraction away from mastering other skills because you focus on (checking) too early," Ogrean said. "We also know instances where parents have said, 'I don't want my kid to play hockey because I don't want them to check too early.'

"This has been a result of a lot of study," he continued. "We know that not everyone shares a uniform opinion, but based on the health and safety research we've done, and the input from a lot of people who are experts in the game, taking body checking out of the pee wee level and, instead, teaching body contact and then implementing the checking a year later is the proper path."

Scott Paluch, a regional manager for USA Hockey's American Development Model, feels taking this step is an important one for the maturation of young players in this country.

"It's an emotional topic for a lot of people who have grown up in our game," Paluch told NHL.com. "The piece of legislation that doesn't get talked about enough is that we want to introduce body contact at a younger age. We want to start the education sooner, so when they start from mite, we can begin talking about how you come together in body contact. We would increase that education at the squirt level, discussing the proper angling and how to accept contact. At the pee-wee level, we would actually talk about introducing checking at practice and then, finally, full checking in games in bantam."

-- Mike G. Morreale

Tom & Dean,

What is the "Checking Certification" that coaches have to go through? I'm a little unsure about starting body contact later, as I do think the testosterone factor is there. I also think it allows kids to play for too long with their heads down and be very vulnerable to injury. Tom, what do they do in Europe?

Obviously there is no easy answer, but I do think off ice clinics can help. Our players are pretty rough around the edges since they haven't been playing all that long. When we were taking too many penalties for high hits & head contact this season we started doing the UAS Hockey off-ice checking drills and the improvement was immediate. The video is available here:
http://usahockey.cachefly.net/webofficecheckingvideo.wmv
I'm sure hockey Canada has something similar?

When it comes to the NHL, one discussion I never hear is talk about going to Olympic size ice. It's so much tougher to make contact with the little bit of extra space. Just a thought....an expensive one, but when you see your most talented players sitting on the sidelines all options should be open for discussion.

Dave

Dean I watch Detroit play and they demonstrate that no rule changes are needed; just better coaching and playing full speed with good habits.

Fighting in hockey begins long before games

By Robert Mays / Globe Correspondent / February 26, 2011


In mid-January, the Division 1 Legislative Council made a decision that made little noise among the conversation of major college sports, lost among news of basketball upsets and football recruiting.

But for college hockey, the verdict could not have been louder. The failure of the proposal — which would have disallowed college coaches to verbally offer a scholarship to a player before July 1 between that player’s junior and senior year of high school — provides the sport’s coaches with a chance to keep significant ground in its fight for the game’s best young talent.

The last five years have seen an increased departure of the country’s best prospective players to the Canadian Hockey League in order to play professionally for a league with a proven track record of sending players to the NHL.

To stem the threat of CHL drafts that select players at age 15, college coaches began recruiting more younger players than ever. Players gave verbal commitments to four years of college before they could drive to the rink. Still, the migration continued. According to Paul Kelly, director of College Hockey Inc., about 50 Americans were playing in the CHL five years ago. That number has increased to more than 125.

“We’re not going to be able to survive that rule and recruit the best young players,’’ Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson said before the legislation was defeated. “It could be devastating to college hockey.’’

While the legislation’s defeat doesn’t solve the problems college hockey has encountered in the last five years, for many coaches it stands as a victory in the battle the sport is waging to keep its most promising young stars.

Tough opponent
One of the first players to force Red Berenson’s hand is a face that dominates Kelly’s presentation. Jack Johnson, a member of the 2010 US Olympic hockey team and the Los Angeles Kings, was 15 when Berenson, the coach at Michigan, received a call from Johnson’s father.

“He said, ‘There’s a CHL scout here waiting for Jack at his 7 a.m. job at the golf course, and he’s trying to recruit him to play in the CHL,’ ’’ Berenson said.

Johnson had attended Michigan hockey camps since elementary school, and because of the extended exposure, Berenson offered him a scholarship without much concern. Despite the comfort, Berenson felt a new paradigm entering college hockey.

“We had to respond,’’ Berenson said. “We knew Jack, and we knew he would be a good player, but we weren’t anticipating offering him a scholarship at age 15. The system put us in a position where we had to.’’

Berenson speaks with a knowing respect for the drawing power of the CHL.

“We definitely have a competitor that is relentless,’’ Berenson said.

The CHL, which is made up of three separate professional hockey leagues — the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League — markets its product to elite young players as the surest route to a career in professional hockey. For the last 40 years, that claim has met few disputes.

According to the OHL, half of all NHL players drafted since 1969 have come from the CHL, and in 2010, CHL players made up 51 percent of players drafted.

The success is credited to a hockey lifestyle that best mirrors what players will see at the NHL level.

OHL teams play an average of 68 games a year. A Division 1 program will play about 40. The schedule, style of play, and exposure to coaches and personnel departments with professional experience are all points on which the CHL claims an advantage.

Kelly concedes that historically, the CHL’s position as the best route to professional hockey may hold, despite recent gains from college hockey. According to his numbers, roughly one-third of players in the NHL are products of the collegiate game, a trend he sees growing because of the increased age and physical play of the NCAA product compared with the CHL.

But for Kelly and many of college hockey’s top coaches, the biggest gap doesn’t involve the players who eventually make it to the NHL. It involves the players who don’t.

To a degree
The challenge for those recruiting the best 15-year-old talent in the country is making players and parents understand the realities of their future.

“We tell them to use hockey,’’ Kelly said. “Get yourself admitted to a college. Use a scholarship to get you to a college. Don’t let hockey use you.

“Roughly 5 percent make it, and given that circumstance, education should never take a back seat.’’

From the educational packages to the institutions that provide them, Kelly believes schooling is what makes college hockey the superior option to time in the CHL.

Kelly claims that 84 percent of all NCAA hockey players will leave college with a degree, while the number in the CHL is approximately 16 percent. He also cites the limitations of educational benefits given to players at the major junior level. There, scholarships are given for each year of service to a team, and those scholarships, according to Kelly, are capped at around $4,500 and are only given for the institution closest to the home of the player’s parents.

“We’ll graduate more kids from our school each year than their whole league will,’’ Berenson said.

Each of those figures, and the claims such as Berenson’s that arise from them, are disputed by the WHL and CHL. Although the QMJHL limits its scholarships to $2,500 per semester, the WHL and CHL have policies they say give scholarships equivalent to tuition, books, and fees for the state university in which a player’s parents reside.

According to Joe Birch, the Director of Recruitment and Education Services for the OHL, for an OHL player from Michigan, a minimum scholarship of approximately $12,700 — the equivalent of a year of tuition, books, and fees at the University of Michigan — would be awarded per year of service in the OHL. Birch also claims the statement that only 16 percent of CHL players earn a diploma is “so far from the truth, it’s scary.’’

Birch’s figures show that 219 former CHL players accessed their scholarship funding during the 2010-11 school year, and that the league has a 95 percent success rate at the post-secondary level.

Luke Lynes is one of those players. A Washington, D.C., native, Lynes was drafted by the Brampton Battalion of the OHL in 2004 at age 16. He played four years for the team before trying his hand at professional hockey with the Edmonton Oilers and eventually choosing to use his education package to attend the University of New Brunswick.

Lynes says he is one of the lucky ones. His status as a third-round draft pick included a contract that comfortably covered his tuition and fees at UNB. For many of the midlevel players, however, their contract doesn’t come with the guarantee of a package that will cover their education costs after leaving the league.

“It ends up with a lot of guys that don’t get taken care of,’’ Lynes said. “I know there are a ton of guys that end up becoming police officers or firemen because that’s the only option available to them.

“I’ve got guys I played two or three years with, and I’ve got no ideas where some of these guys are. They’re definitely not in school.’’

Opinions vary
Jerry York has spent more than 30 years setting himself apart. The Boston College coach has more wins at the Division 1 level than any coach ever. Before the vote from the council came down last month, he was in scarce company again.

“It’s become a crazy situation for everyone that’s involved in it,’’ York said. “[The new legislation] would be terrific.’’

But for many of college hockey’s top coaches, the decision is one that preserves a fighting chance against the powerful opponent they face in addition to each other.

“The problem I would have with that legislation is that we’re already handicapped in our ability to recruit elite young players vs. the Canadian Hockey League,’’ Maine coach Tim Whitehead said. “If we implement those rules on ourselves, it would further restrict our options.’’

“I think we’re just playing into their hands,’’ Berenson said before the vote. “We have to be able to fight fire with fire. We can’t legislate ourselves out of the battle.’’

© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

Good stuff Dave! I am reading another Wooden book right now...

Where the old "egg head" helmets anymore safe than the two piece, light as a feather buckets we have now? (See attached pic) I had one of the Protec helmets like the guy on the left in the photo and it was amazing. The shells were all one size you just changed the padding on the inside. They were hot, but they were light. Unfortunately they were very ugly too. Lots of room for decals though!

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Good picture Dman.
I have read a lot of articles in the Physician and Sports Medicine about football helments. The fact that the helmets are ROUND is the most important feature. This deflects the forces to a greater area instead of in a straight line where the brain crashes into the front of the skull and back. The of Mikita helmet that had a suspension around the head was even better because the helmet moved and diffused the forces to protect the brain.

The worst helmet possible is the kids bike helment with syrafoam on the outside or inside which collapses under pressure and the brain goes in a straight line.

I have 5 players out with concusiions now and I think the helmets with flat surfaces are the cause of a few. (not the one where the player hit her head on the toilet bowl when she fainted in the bathroom. Very few people where a helmet to visit the head)

The quirky Moose Jaw Civic Centre is closing after 52 years

Cory Wolfe, The StarPhoenix Feb 28, 2011


MOOSE JAW — When architect Joseph Pettick designed the Moose Jaw Civic Centre’s sunken roof, he didn’t intend it to be retractable.

Lorne Molleken swears, however, that he’s seen daylight through the corrugated-metal ceiling.

“It’s held up by cables and when they would move, you could see outside sometimes,” said Molleken, whose first WHL coaching job was with the Moose Jaw Warriors from 1988-91. “I remember being up at the top (of the stands) and when the wind was blowing, you could see daylight.”

Molleken, who now guides the Saskatoon Blades, made his final regular-season visit to the Civic Centre on Saturday. The Warriors will abandon the 52-year-old arena after this season and move into a new downtown arena. City workers plan to transplant the Civic Centre’s ice plant into the new facility following the Warriors’ playoff run. The old rink’s pipes will be drained and civic officials have no intention of turning on the heat next September.

Although the city has invited private-sector proposals for the Civic Centre, demolition seems more likely. All in all, it’s a rather inglorious ending for one of junior hockey’s most recognizable buildings.

“It’s been a special place over the years, but it’s time for a change,” conceded Molleken, whose Blades beat the Warriors 2-1 in a shootout Saturday.

Nicknamed the Crushed Can for obvious reasons, the Civic Centre earned a reputation as one of the WHL’s most intimidating arenas. It seats only 2,705, but few rinks — regardless of size — can match the Civic Centre for noise and atmosphere.

“It’s a great old barn,” said Conrad Vautour, one of the building’s longtime security guards.

Even supporters of the new facility concede that the Civic Centre’s raucous atmosphere will be tough to replicate.

“It can be intimidating for some of the younger players, especially kids from B.C. or Alberta,” said Molleken. “They walk into this rink and say, ‘Holy smokes. What have I gotten myself into?’ It’s intimidating because everything happens quickly here and the fans are right on top of you. It’s a loud, loud building and it’s deep in tradition.”

Jazz great Louis Armstrong headlined the gala opening of the Civic Centre on Sept. 19, 1959. Hockey has been the building’s lifeblood, though, and the concourse walls are plastered with photos of colourfully named characters such as Strap Wells and Beans Clarke, as well as more contemporary stars such as Theoren Fleury.

A young Molleken — wearing a black blazer embroidered with the Warriors’ logo — also shows up in several team photos. Mike Babcock coached there, too, 15 years before guiding the Detroit Red Wings to the 2008 Stanley Cup.

The walls don’t advertise, however, that convicted sex offender Graham James was the Warriors’ first head coach when they moved to Moose Jaw from Winnipeg in 1984. During his one season at the helm, James was convicted of common assault after reaching over the Civic Centre glass and hitting a fan with a hockey stick.

That wasn’t the only time that violence has spilled into the stands at the Crushed Can. During one particularly heated battle between the Warriors and the Regina Pats a decade ago, Regina fans attacked the Moose Jaw mascot, Puckhead. Warrior fans vowed vengeance, but Regina mascot K-9 was a healthy scratch the following night because the Pats’ office received phone threats against their canine cheerleader.

Passion has certainly never been a problem at the Civic Centre. Through the 1980s and ’90s, Warriors play-by-play man Rob Carnie hosted a Hot Stove League after each home game. Fans weren’t shy about calling out referees and opponents, as well as their own coaches and players.

“The place was packed and you couldn’t see out because of all the (cigarette) smoke,” recalled Molleken. “When people got a few Molson Canadians under their belts, it got pretty interesting in there some nights after games.”

Engineers probably weren’t counting on hot air from fired-up fans to help heat the seating area. There was a sensible theory behind the building’s U-shaped design, however. Because warm air rises, they believed it would disperse to the upper seating levels while keeping ice level cool.

It’s a plausible theory because the end walls have been known to get mighty frigid.

“I thought they painted the wall,” one scout said during a mid-winter visit in the late 1990s. “Then I realized it was just frost.”

Indeed, the Civic Centre will always remembered for greeting visitors with a chilly reception.
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I coached there in the mid-90's after Babcock. That was the coldest winter I have ever experienced... inside the rink and out! My truck didn't start (even when plugged in) for several days that winter; with the snow and cold, traffic wasn't running and people just stayed home. I think it was -70C with the wind chill on many occasions. Numerous practices had to be cancelled and even a few games (later rescheduled) due to weather.

You could see your breath in the coaches office in the basement! We had electric heaters but it wasn't enough. I was never a coffee drinker before the year. I drank a ton of it from the scouts room just to stay warm. I had to wear layers to work; I bought wool underwear (1-piece with the poop flap!) from an army surplus and wore snow pants, a ski jacket, touque and gloves. It was an interesting 5-minute process to go to the can - and even then, you didn't want to leave 'anything' exposed for any longer than necessary!!!! Brutal! At least the dressing room was warm for the players.

That was the coldest (longest, dreariest) year of my life. Weird because when I got there in August for training camp, it was over 30C and was really nice until late September (15C), staying nice through the fall until about the start of November. I guess that's the prairies for you!

How can concussion problem in hockey be fixed?

CBC SPORTS.ca Elliotte Friedman * October 25, 2010


It was a nationally televised U.S. college football game between Texas Christian and Southern Methodist. TCU's star running back, Ed Wesley, fell on his head after a tackle and was knocked out.

The team physician, Dr. Samuel Haraldson, told The American Medical News what happened next.

"[Wesley] was knocked unconscious, and any loss of consciousness is automatically considered a concussion. He had an unsteady gait and a few memory problems."

According to NCAA rules, once a player is diagnosed with a concussion, he is not allowed to return.

"Then five or six plays later," Dr. Haraldson added, "I literally was verbally accosted by the coach, screaming at me insanely at the top of his lungs that he doesn't think [Wesley] has a concussion and what right do I have to hold him out."

Days later, the coach, Gary Patterson, told ESPN, "As far as I'm concerned, he was fine 10 minutes after he got hurt."

The good news is that more of us are realizing that kind of thinking is beyond moronic. The bad news is that we've still got a ways to go.

Philadelphia Eagles Kevin Kolb and Stewart Bradley ignored concussions in Week 1 of this NFL season. Ian Laperriere and Marc Savard tried to play through them in last spring's Stanley Cup playoffs.


Savard needed more rest: Dr. Cantu

Dr. Robert Cantu, author of 23 books about brain trauma, believes Savard would be playing now if he'd rested last spring. (Dr. Cantu has an autographed "thank you" picture in his office from Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron.) savard-marc-100307.jpgAnd that's why another doctor told Hockey Night in Canada that he wants to see more concussions - for now.

His name is Dr. Ruben Echemendia.

The NHL went to him and Dr. Mark Lovell in 1997, asking them to establish the neuropsychological - or "baseline" - test that helps monitor concussion symptoms. It allows teams to get a better handle on when a player is truly recovered.

This was his first-ever TV interview.

The NHL is averaging 75 recognized concussions per season since the lockout, down from a high of 109 in 2000-01. This year's total is poised to smash the record.

When I asked Dr. Echemendia if he had a target number he wanted to drop to, he blew me away by saying he wanted to see the total increase in the short term.

"It sounds counter-intuitive, but the reason I say that is that means we have more awareness. We know that we're doing our job when the rate of concussions increases. But, if we start seeing an increase in the severity of the concussions, or a longer duration of the symptoms, then I would certainly be concerned."

Is that happening?

"Not in our league," he said, which seems surprising, considering high-profile cases like Willie Mitchell, David Booth, Savard, Laperriere and Paul Kariya. "We're seeing lesser and lesser symptom burdens. Because we're evaluating them earlier... their symptoms don't last as long."

Here is the total number of man-games lost due to concussions in that past four seasons:

2006-07 - 615
2007-08 - 548
2008-09 - 487
2009-10 - 407

Can't imagine that number dropping again this season, with almost 20 concussions so far. Plus, Kariya and Laperriere will miss 164 between them.


Teenagers push for early return

After really thinking about it and talking to a few players, I can understand where Dr. Echemendia is coming from. The hockey (and football) mentality is tough. No one likes to miss games when it really matters. (I wrote here that if I was Laperriere, I probably would have done the same thing.) That's not limited to professionals. Dr. Echemendia says he sees 13-year-olds who try to convince him to return too early.

But it does have to change if there's to be a decrease. That's going to be very hard.

It is impossible to do justice on this topic in a six-minute television feature.

Some other things I learned while compiling my report:

• Dr. Cantu on fighting: "With enforcers who've had a lot of fights, roughly one in four fights, they'll take a blow that stuns them - in essence a concussion. They'll go the penalty box, put their five minutes in and then, when they come back to the bench, they won't acknowledge that they've been concussed. So we really find a high incidence of concussions happening, roughly 20-25 per cent of the time." Think Derek Engelland-Colton Orr. In the symposium held last week at the Mayo Clinic, only six per cent of concussions were linked to fighting. If Dr. Cantu is right - and I have no reason to believe he's wrong - that number is way off.

• There were 300 diagnosed concussions in the NHL between 1997-2004. Baseline testing showed that in 30 per cent of them, players who thought they were recovered still had symptoms. And it's not that anyone believes they're lying, it's just that they don't realize it until pushed by a test.

• If there is one crack in the baseline exam, it's that there is no accepted method of testing a player's balance on skates. Both doctors say that measuring balance is an important part of determining a full recovery.

• Players from certain countries tend to downplay any kind of head trauma. So, if they come to the bench/room complaining about wooziness, etc., teams are told to be very careful. (the doctor wouldn't tell me which countries).

• Only 25 per cent of the hits that caused concussions involved players who had the puck. Of the rest, the vast majority (76 per cent) came within half a second of the victim releasing the puck. This is the tough one for the NHL. The league still considers that possession, because the game moves so quickly. Any contact to the head after half a second is when you get in trouble, which is why Shane Doan got three games for hitting Dan Sexton. (It might be a good idea to have any contact after half a second be grounds for suspension, so Erik Cole can't get away with what he did to Drew Doughty).

• Last year, there were almost 55,000 hits made in NHL games. The year before the lockout, there were 38,831. That's an increase of 40 per cent.

• Most concussions occur in the first period. Dr. Echemendia's believes it's because teams come out hard at the start of a game, wanting to set the physical tone.

• The real danger area is in women's hockey, especially at the college level. There are several theories, but two stand out. First, since there is theoretically no hitting allowed, the players are not taught to properly protect themselves from contact. Second, as Cassie Campbell-Pascall points out, most teams don't travel with anyone qualified to diagnose a concussion.

• In football, first-stringers go through hundreds of head hits a year, including practice. There are fewer in hockey, but the force of those collisions is much greater because of the speed at impact.


Game-changer

The Mike Richards hit on Booth was the game-changer. "That's when the attitude amongst GMs really turned," said one NHL executive.

But has it turned enough? Mitchell had a really interesting quote when asked about Rick Rypien getting into a physical altercation with a fan last week.

"My opinion is that everyone has made a big issue out of this and I think there's other things that are going on in our game that are much more severe, whether it's headshots -- and I keep going back to that - and the lack of action on that," Mitchell told The Los Angeles Times. "It's something we've seen the NFL start to do and hopefully our league follows suit. The game's faster, guys are bigger, it would be nice to see if they protected the players a little more."

The GMs broke down 22 randomly selected games from last season. Every hit to the head - no matter how innocent - was noted. Here's what they learned: 62 per cent of them came along the boards, 38 per cent in open ice. What connected with the head? Well, 40 per cent of the time, it was the hands. Next: 30 per cent from the shoulder, 15 per cent from the elbow, 13 per cent stick and two per cent other helmets/knees.

Here's the problem: no one can agree on how severe head contact should be to call a penalty. There's been call for a zero-tolerance policy, but the GMs looked at all of the incidental contact and said, "We're going to throw out guys for that?" Even Dr. Cantu, who said in the piece, "I think that, eventually, all head checks need to be eliminated," admitted there are mitigating factors.

When I played devil's advocate, asking about the speed of the game and the differing heights of players leading to accidental head shots, he said that he was talking about situations where the head was targeted and it could be left to the discretion of the referees.

Of course, retired referee Kerry Fraser, who joined Ron MacLean in studio immediately after our Inside Hockey piece, completely disagrees. It just shows how little consensus there is.

How do we fix the problem? I like the idea of stiffer suspensions for those who do target the head.

Brad May thinks some degree of interference must be allowed back in the game. That adds even more subjectivity to the rulebook, but is that the answer?

Can we remove concussions from hockey?

"No," says Dr. Echemendia, shaking his head. "When you have players that size and that speed playing the game, you're not going to get rid of concussions. It's not going to happen unless we fundamentally change the game in such a way that you won't recognize it."

That's the big question for everyone: fans, media, players and execs. We love the way the game is played. We're all concerned about the head injuries. What's our choice?

Concussions: What to watch for

Concussions are injuries to the brain, caused by a blow to the head. The symptoms are varied and you should not return to play until all symptoms have resolved themselves.

By CBC News February 20, 2011


Concussions, head shots, cheap blows. There's been a lot of talk in pro sports lately of doing something to cut down on the number of injuries that occur in games played by very large, very strong and very talented athletes - especially in hockey and football.

Yet, in 2010, two of the highest profile athletes to miss significant chunks of the season were Canadians in a mostly-American game: baseball: Jason Bay of the New York Mets and Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins.

Bay missed the last two months of the season after his head bashed into the left-field wall while he made a running catch at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in late July. Two weeks earlier, Morneau slid hard into second base during a game in Toronto, colliding with the shortstop.

Both players made what are considered good plays: Bay was able to hang on to the ball for the final out of the inning and Morneau's hard slide impeded Toronto's shortstop in his effort to throw out the runner going to first base. And in both incidents, the players - while apparently momentarily dazed - were able to get to their feet and walk off the field. "Always a good sign," as the announcer says at the end of the video of Morneau's incident posted on the official site of Major League Baseball.

Both players were out for the rest of the season because of ongoing symptoms of concussion.


What is a concussion?

A concussion is an injury to the brain resulting from a blow to the head. Your brain is protected from everyday bumps and jolts by the cerebrospinal fluid that it floats in, inside your skull. A hard enough jolt, though, causes your brain to smack into your skull.

Most people don't black out when they suffer a concussion. In fact, they may feel little more than a bit dazed at first and - like Jason Bay and Justin Morneau - be able to get up and walk away with little sign of injury.

A concussion is the mildest form of traumatic brain injury. In medical parlance, traumatic is used to indicate "sudden" as opposed to "chronic" which develops over a long period of time.


What are the symptoms of concussion?

Classic concussion symptoms include confusion and amnesia, especially of the event that caused the concussion.

Other immediate symptoms may include:

* Headache.
* Dizziness.
* Ringing in the ears.
* Nausea or vomiting.
* Slurred speech.
* Fatigue.

Other symptoms may show up in the days and weeks following the incident. They include:

* Memory or concentration problems.
* Sensitivity to light and noise.
* Sleep disturbances.
* Irritability.
* Depression.

Like any head injury, it is important to watch the patient closely for 24 hours. If the patient loses consciousness often or has trouble waking up, you should seek immediate medical attention.


What should I look for if I suspect my child has suffered a concussion?

Kids can be particularly at risk for concussion - even if they're not involved in sports. Falling off a couch or bumping into a table could provide enough of a blow to cause a concussion. Watch for:

* Listlessness, easy to tire.
* Irritability, crankiness.
* A change in eating or sleeping patterns.
* A lack of interest in favourite toys.
* A loss of balance or unsteady walking.

You should seek medical attention if your child loses consciousness, suffers a seizure, vomits repeatedly, has a headache that keeps getting worse, or has lasting or recurrent dizziness.


What is post-concussion syndrome?

It's when a combination of concussion symptoms persist for weeks or months after the injury that caused the concussion. They can persist for a year or more in some people.

It's unclear why the symptoms persist. Some experts believe the event that caused the concussion does structural damage to the brain or disrupts neurotransmitter systems. Others believe the syndrome is related to psychological factors, especially since the most common symptoms - including headache, dizziness and sleep difficulties - are similar to those of people suffering from depression.


When is it safe to resume activity after a concussion?

Definitely not on the same day the concussion is suffered. Beyond that, it depends.

Six stages of return to play

1. Physical and mental rest until symptoms are gone.
2. Light aerobic exercise (e.g. stationary cycle).
3. Sport-specific exercise.
4. Non-contact training drills (start light resistance training).
5. Full contact training after medical clearance.
6. Return to competition.

The Second International Symposium on Sport Concussion, held in Prague in 2004, led to the creation of the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT2). It's a standardized tool that medical professionals can use to diagnose athletes - and athlete can use to help determine if they're suffering from a concussion and whether they're ready to resume activity.

SCAT2 includes six steps to take before an athlete should return to play, with at least 24 hours for each stage. However, if symptoms recur, the athlete should return to the first stage. The New York Mets report that Jason Bay has been symptom-free since December, when he resumed working out. He's expected to be at full strength when the baseball season opens in April.

As for Justin Morneau? The Minnesota Twins say he continues to make good progress and has been hitting, fielding and throwing. But they won't know whether he's over his post-concussion issues until he starts playing in games during training camp later this month.

Here's another 'winner' who should also be tossed out of hockey:


Attack on Golden Bears captain investigated

By Nathan Liewicki, edmontonjournal.com February 28, 2011


EDMONTON — The Canada West Universities Athletic Association is looking into the incident where University of Alberta Golden Bears captain Eric Hunter left the ice at UBC’s Thunderbird Arena on Friday night bloodied and concussed.

UBC forward Michael Liambas punched Hunter in the head and drove him into the ice after Hunter tripped Liambas late in the second period.

Hunter wasn’t penalized, but Liambas received 17 minutes in penalties, including an instigator, which carries an automatic two-game ban. Canada West executive director Val Schneider said the association is still looking at the incident.

“The individual has been suspended for two games and it’s subject to further review,” Schneider said, referring to Liambas.

Canada West men’s hockey convenor Bill Seymour said that a committee will meet to discuss whether a harsher discipline will be handed out to the Woodbridge, Ont., native. Liambas sat out UBC’s regular-season finale on Saturday, but because UBC failed to qualify for the playoffs, Seymour said there is no need to rush a decision.

“I’ve spoken with both athletic directors, coaches and referees,” Seymour said. “We’ve started the process and we’re going to do what’s best for our league.”

Both coaches were unable to be reached for comment, but before any possible changes to Canada West hockey, Seymour said the conference’s first concern is the health of Hunter.

Still, Seymour is very perturbed with the way he feels the media has swarmed to the idea that Canada West hockey has a violent side.

“I’m upset our game is being dragged down,” Seymour said. “We’re being black-balled here and I’m angry we’re getting dragged all over the fricking country.”

This was not the first questionable incident involving Liambas. In October 2009, the former Erie Otter was suspended for the rest of the Ontario Hockey League season after slamming then 16-year-old Kitchener Rangers defenceman Ben Fanelli into the boards. Fanelli suffered skull and facial fractures and still has not been medically cleared to return to game action for Kitchener.

In 124 career OHL games, Liambas totalled 357 penalty minutes.

Two months later, while playing with the Bloomington Prairie Thunder of the International Hockey League, Liambas received a five-game suspension for a hit from behind on Muskegon Lumberjacks defenceman Jason Lawmaster. The hit sent Lawmaster to the hospital with a ruptured spleen.

The Bears are home to the Manitoba Bisons in conference semifinal action this weekend, but the availability of Hunter — 10 goals and 13 assists in 25 games this season — to lace up his skates is uncertain.

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal


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'Character player' defended after retaliatory punch


By Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun February 28, 2011

UBC Thunderbirds forward Michael Liambas, a player who was thrown out of the Ontario Hockey League last season for a dangerous hit, was involved in another incident Friday against the Alberta Golden Bears that left Bears captain Eric Hunter with facial cuts and concussionlike symptoms.

Liambas was suspended for two games with the second game carrying over to next year as the T-Birds' season ended Saturday.

They did not make the Canda West playoffs.

According to T-Birds head coach Milan Dragicevic, Liambas punched Hunter from the side in retaliation for a spear to the groin. Dragicevic said the UBC program does not condone Liambas's actions but emphasized it was not a Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore type incident.

Liambas received two minutes for instigating, five for fighting and a game misconduct.

"There was no pre-meditation," Dragicevic explained Sunday. "Our player got speared, there was no call and he retaliated. That's what happened. The two players were jostling, they were skating together, side-by-side and Mike dropped his gloves. Their player got knocked to his knees, both players dropped their gloves, there was a tussle and then they were separated.

"Their player skated off on his own and, from accounts, he had a concussion. He sat out Saturday's game for precautionary reasons."

Dragicevic called Liambas 'a character player' and said he is welcome to continue playing for the Thunderbirds. This was Liambas's first year in the program. He is studying human kinetics. The 22-yearold Toronto native finished last season in the International League where, at one point, he received a five-game suspension for a hit that ruptured an opponent's spleen. He was earlier kicked out of the OHL for a hit that fractured the skull of Kitchener's Ben Fanelli.

Dragicevic doesn't feel this latest incident should be viewed as a stain on the UBC hockey program.

"We don't condone what Mike Liambas did to Eric Hunter," said Dragicevic. "That's an action on the ice that nobody is going to condone. However, as a person, Mike Liambas is someone who has character, grit, leadership qualities, volunteers in the community and does a lot of outside activities that don't necessarily get recognized.

"We want Mike Liambas back. He had an 87-per-cent average coming out of high school and was an honours student. Those players are had to find. Sometimes the perception out there is not right. We support Mike Liambas as a person 100 per cent and we are going to support him through this as well."

Dragicevic, who has coached the T-Birds for nine seasons, said he has witnessed incidents worse than the one that went down Friday night.

"I've seen eye-gouging and hair-pulling," he noted.

"It's not the first time a player has retaliated and gotten suspended for it. It happens. Right or wrong, quick decisions are made on the ice and sometimes they are not the right decisions. Maybe Michael Liambas has to control his emotions a little bit more on the ice but, as a person, you're not going to find a more outstanding individual."
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Thunderbirds lose Liambas

Seeking pro position

By Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun March 3, 2011


Controversial forward Michael Liambas, who has a history of violence on the ice, has left the UBC Thunderbirds hockey program after just one season. Liambas, 22, was involved in another incident last Friday against the Alberta Golden Bears in which he injured Bears captain Eric Hunter in an altercation.

Some reports called it an attack while UBC head coach Milan Dragicevic claimed Liambas instigated a fight with Hunter, punching him in the head from the side, after being speared in the groin.

Liambas received two minutes for instigating, five for fighting and a game misconduct. He was subsequently suspended for two games, pending a further investigation. Hunter suffered facial cuts and concussion-like symptoms in the incident.

"Michael has decided to leave UBC and pursue professional hockey," Dragicevic confirmed Wednesday, offering no further comment.

Last season, Liambas was thrown out of the Ontario Hockey League for fracturing the skull of Kitchener's Ben Fanelli. He then went to the International League where he was suspended five games for rupturing an opponent's spleen.

UBC did not make the Canada West playoffs and its season ended Saturday. The Golden Bears play this weekend and it is not yet known whether Hunter will be cleared to play. Liambas is apparently pursuing pro opportunities in the East Coast League.

epap@vancouversun.com
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