OHL bans coach for hazing
Tough penalties for Spitfires’ Mantha Fight in practice also costly for team
The Ontario Hockey League showed what “ zero tolerance” on hazing means when it handed out punishment to the Windsor Spitfires yesterday. The league suspended Moe Mantha for the rest of the season including the playoffs as general manager, and 25 games as head coach as the result of a hazing incident last month. He was suspended an additional 15 games over an altercation between veteran Steve Downie and rookie Akim Aliu in practice on Sept. 28. The team was fined $ 35,000 for both incidents. OHL commissioner David Branch said the investigation into the hazing took 19 days and included interviews with team owner Steve Riolo, Mantha, two assistant coaches, two trainers and 25 players, some of whom are no longer with the Spitfires. The incident took place on the team bus Sept. 9 following a preseason game in London. According to Branch’s findings, four players were made to undress and stand in the bathroom at the back of the bus for an initiation many players refer to as the “ hot box.”
“ Any form of hazing must be eradicated from our league,” Branch said yesterday. “ I feel comfortable in stating that the activity which occurred on the Spitfires bus is not common and will never be tolerated.”
This is the first time the league has issued a suspension under its zero- tolerance policy on hazing. The team was fined the maximum $ 25,000 in part because Riolo, Mantha and his assistants were on the bus when the incident took place. Branch said the league needed to hand down a firm punishment to show it is serious about hazing and to assure players and their parents that the league will do all it can to provide “ a healthy environment” for its players. The league will also arrange a meeting between players, their parents and the families players are billeted with to discuss the hazing. The team will make a psychologist available to any player who wants it, he added. The team was also fined $ 10,000 for the altercation in
practice where Downie, a firstround draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, cross- checked Aliu in the mouth, causing lacerations and chipping two teeth. Aliu went off the ice, but returned later to fight with Downie.
“ Moe’s a great guy,” said Aliu. “ Obviously I didn’t want that to happen to him. I didn’t know what to expect, but I have a lot of respect for ( Branch).” The team suspended Downie for five games and Aliu, Windsor’s first- round pick in 2005, for one. Downie asked to be traded and returned to his home in Newmarket. Riolo has said he has no intention of trading the talented winger.
“ Right now they have an asset sitting at home,” said Downie’s agent, Darren Ferris. “They have a team that isn’t winning. I’m sure eventually the fans and players are going to get upset.” Downie, 18, has not spoken publicly since the incident on the advice of his lawyers, whom Ferris said are preparing to sue the team.
Ferris is continuing to work on a deal for Downie to play with the Central Hockey League’s Laredo Bucks instead of waiting for a trade. Branch said he has been following the Downie situation closely and has had discussions with both parties, trying to bring “ resolve to the situation.” Ferris said he spoke with Riolo last week and that their discussion was productive.
“I think he may be getting more of the understanding that Steve ( Downie) is not coming back,” said Ferris. “ There’s no way, he’s not going back. He will never go back there.”
Assistant coaches Bill Bowler and D. J. Smith conducted practice yesterday and will likely run the bench in Mantha’s absence. Windsor is 2- 8 and in last place of the Western Conference.
“ I don’t think our heads have been in the right place,” said Aliu. “ Everyone’s been wondering and thinking about what’s going to happen to Moe. We haven’t been playing well and I’m sure part of it has been what’s been going on off the ice.”
Mantha, who played for five teams during a 12- year NHL career, and Riolo were not immediately available for comment.