Physical defender Hall tries to get a grip on his grit

KITCHENER — Calling Connor Hall the Ontario Hockey League’s bad boy may be a tad unfair at this point.

After all, the Kitchener Rangers defenceman is only 13 games into the season.

But the 19-year-old does lead the league with 45 penalty minutes, which is only four shy of his career high set over a 39-game span two years back.

“I definitely didn’t expect it,” said Hall, of his susceptibility to land in the sin bin. “In these first games, I’ve had a lot more penalties than I wished for.”

Hall is a physical blueliner who thrives on playing with emotion and grit. It’s one of the reasons the Pittsburgh Penguins selected him in the third round of last year’s NHL draft.

But the regular trips to the penalty box are becoming an issue.

“It’s simply hurting the team right now and he knows that,” said Rangers bench boss Jay McKee. “You can play a good physical game and not take penalties. Leading the league in penalty minutes does us no good.”

Things have ratcheted up of late.

Hall took five minors in a 5-1 loss to the London Knights at the Aud last Friday, and had two more the next night as the Rangers lost 2-1 to Oshawa.

In the latter tilt, the teams were tied 1-1 in the third period when Hall was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, after verbally lashing out at an official from the Rangers’ bench.

The rearguard didn’t see a shift after that.

“Connor is a very intense person,” said McKee.

“He takes a lot of pride in playing hard and kind of being a throwback style of player. And that’s a good thing, that’s what we want. It creates a really good element on our back end and it’s part of what was missing on our team last year.

“But it just has to be a balance of controlling your emotions and letting them get away from you. For him he has had a hard time doing that. The only thing I can manage with that is talking to him and then holding back on his ice time. It comes down to him.”

Let’s be clear, Hall is no goon. He logs a ton of minutes, is one of the team’s most reliable penalty killers and plays a valuable shutdown role against some of the best players in the league.

It’s just his penalties that need to be reined in.

“I think I just have to control myself a little bit more,” said Hall, who had 17 more minutes than Peterborough’s Jonathan Ang.

Ang is second in the OHL, heading into Thursday’s action.

“I can’t let people get under my skin,” said Hall. “I want to be a physical and intimidating factor on the ice, but (I) also want to stay on the ice and play hockey. To balance that is going to be a hard task.

“But I’m going to have to find a way to do it.”

Of course, leading the league in penalty minutes makes Hall a target for chirping, which makes remaining disciplined that much more difficult.

But having his butt pinned to the bench in Oshawa was a harsh reality check.

“It was a bit of a wake-up call. But I fully understand why he (McKee) did that,” said Hall. “I took a stupid penalty. I sat for the rest of that game and it woke me up for sure. And I’m going to be ready to go for Friday.”