The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has decided that Patrice Cormier is done playing hockey with them for the remainder of the season and the playoffs. Realistically the punishment could not be anything less. The video of the hit shows it was vicious and dangerous. Unless the goal of a sport is to hit your opponent until they cannot stand up for ten seconds there is no place in sport for an attack of this nature.
There is evidence to suggest that Patrice Cormier is a gifted hockey player. He was selected as the captain of the most recent version of Canada's World Junior Hockey Team. That is a ringing endorsement to his character. You select a captain because he is the type of player and person you want your team to look up to. Maybe Hockey Canada made a mistake.
Most of the players who play in the CHL will not play professional hockey. At the age these players are, most will not understand the full ramifications of their decisions yet. They are young and heal quickly. They still probably feel invincible. They all believe they have a chance to play pro hockey. They are probably not looking at the risks associated with playing junior hockey an as such the league must protect them. For the most part junior is safe. Unfortunately there are a few very bad incidents that put doubt into people's mind. Some of the incidents are in a bit of a grey area where circumstances set up a potentially bad situation that came true. This is not one of those cases. There wasn't a strange bounce or a player avoiding another player and stepping into the path of a third player. Patrice Cormier came off the bench, made a bee-line and viciously elbowed an opponent.
I intentionally waited until the QMJHL made their ruling before I commented on this issue. What i have to say is the people charged with the custody of the game of hockey must ensure the game is safe or they may see themselves in charge of something that could become irrelevant and no one wants hockey to be irrelevant.
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