Wednesday, May 2, 2012

League Needs Some Consistency


By Andrew McGilligan
SN Staff

Give the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League a chance and they will screw something up.

Case in point, the suspension of Jonathan Huberdeau for the first two games of the President's Cup final between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Rimouski Oceanic.

People can debate all they like about the hit. In my opinion it deserved a penalty but a two-game suspension is probably high. However, that's not where the league fell short. It's following its own example, sticking to a precedent.

In Game 5 of the Halifax Mooseheads and Rimouski series, Cameron Critchlow was kicked out of the game for removing his opponent’s helmet during a fight. Replays showed the call to be inaccurate. The call on the ice carries an automatic one-game suspension.

The QMJHL brass reviewed it, saw the error and chose not to correct it. Wrong call, but that was the decision. Flash forward to Tuesday evening. The league reviews the Huberdeau hit, of which there was no call on the ice. The result is a two-game suspension.

There's no consistency when it comes to the decisions. The league will argue it determines each action based on the individual case. This may or may not be true, what is plain to see is that the league sometimes does and sometimes doesn't consider past decisions.

Huberdeau probably deserved a penalty on the play, maybe a suspension; I've seen worse plays get nothing.

What the fans deserve and teams deserve is a clear and consistent message from the league. But don’t hold your breath, that won't be up for review anytime soon.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

16 comments:

  1. Where were the calls when Maxime got cross checked from behind behind the net. Yes they scored on the play but the ref was right beside the hit and didnt raise his arm so there would have been no call. That hit looked painful the way his back folded.
    Galiev got hit and came to the bench with a bloody nose. Good job to him for comin back with tissue up his nose and scoring the winner.

    Ref's usually take a little break in playoffs and let them "play" a little more but I dont know who's calling the game more the ref's or the league. It's getting pathetic really.

    I dont disagree with a 1 game suspension if it was in fact justified. It shoulda been called on the ice.

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  2. Out of curiosity does the hit on Villemaire just go unreviewed because the Sags lost and it would be pointless to suspend someone now that their season is done?

    If Huberdeau's hit deserved a two game suspension then the hit on Villemaire definitely deserved a review.

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  3. Thought is was certainly a penalty. But anyone who knows me, knows I think those two ref's #12 & 21 are a joke and usually let the game get away from them. No call on the Villemaire hit...Ref's 12 & 21...say no more. Would like to know how much input Sha whine again had into this? Doesn't matter, Dogs will win this series and thump the Memorial cup Hosts.

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  4. Just another example of the Q-League putting the screws to the Maritime teams. The Huberdeau & Critchlow suspensions, Giving the Memorial Cup host to Shawingan, The loss of 2 points over the Villemaire paperwork, of which there was no precedent....Sending a tape to the league, which was very inconclusive, by the way, by Chicoutimi after they were eliminated, is a bush-league move. If the Q doesn't want the maritime teams to succeed, they shouldn't have taken their money for franchise fees.

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  5. Forget about this now, the decision was made(joke decision, but is what it is). The real focus needs to be on game 1. The Dogs need to win without Huberdeau now, just as they did earlier in the season. Only way to get them back now is win the series and laugh about it after the fact. Don't let this be a distraction to the end goal. MemCup 2012, Go Dogs Go!

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  6. The only thing I'm really bothered about is how two refs missed that hit. I saw it plain as day. Clearly a major penalty. Thought 2 games may be a bit much for a guy with no history, though, really. I hope the Dogs can start big, even without HoobyDooby

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  7. I have nothing against Rimouski, yet, but I'd love the boys to send a message to the league and blow them out of the rink. Run 'er up!

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  8. Obviously if there is the potential to have no Quebec team in the QMJHL finals or if there is the potential that a Quebec team will not win the QMJHL championship, the league will routinely intervene with obscure, litttle known infraction rulings that lack true and professional logic. Critchlow is a prime example. I had never heard of such a rule. And now Huberdeau. Perhaps a one game suspension, but 2 games? In the finals? Unheard of I'd suggest. It's so blatently obvious what this league is doing. They truly are an embarassment and I now fully understand why the QMJHL is considered the worse of the 3 major junior leagues. Here's hoping the Sea Dogs win big time and spoil the conspirators wishes.

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  9. It's well known in Saint John that Ref's 12 & 21 showing up means 5 on 7 hockey. They routinely look the other way on dangerous hits. The fact that they're still reffing proves that the QMJHL wither has no oversight or is fine with their behavior. Either way, it's more than obvious to all now that the QMJHL is biased against non Quebec teams.

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  10. I think the QMJHL is very consistent.
    They consistently rule against any Maritimes team.
    It's their league I guess we should all just be thankful they let us play in it and happily lick up the scraps they throw us.

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  11. I notice the Q still hasn't posted an article explaining their rational. I guess they're trying to find the english translation for "our heads are up our arse".

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    1. two thumbs up on that post :o)

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  12. cameron critchlow out for pivotal game.......
    jonathan huberdeau out for two pivotal games.....
    me thinks that the QMJHL is running scared, afraid that there could have been two non-PQ teams in the league final.the league errored badly on the critchlow call and huberdeau has absolutely no history of running a player. no call on the ice, is the QMJHL saying that their refs are incompetent. your bias is showing QMJHL.

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  13. The play deserved a one game suspension for a player that may get some what temperamental at times, but, certainly not a cheap shot artist, therefore, a prefect load of crap !

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  14. First time I've read this blog. However, I have often wondered why the West has it's own league, Ontario has it's own league and here we are tucked into the Quebec league. We have enough teams, Moncton, Saint John, Bathurst, PEI, Halifax and Cape Breton, so why don't we have our own league? Maritime Junior Hockey League (MJHL) sounds better to me than QMJHL, and we could add another team or two - for example - Fredericton. Just an observation!!

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    Replies
    1. There's already a MJHL.
      Should try to get out and catch some of it.

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