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ONTARIO: Three players and coach allowed back in hockey league

The Ontario Hockey Federation determined The Hockey Loft didn't meet the definition of a league
Minor hockey
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Three young players and a coach with the Hespeler Minor Hockey Association can return to the ice.

Earlier this month, they were booted out of the league for participating in a non-league sanctioned scrimmage game at The Hockey Loft.

That went against a Hockey Canada policy, which is the national governing body of the sport.

But an investigation by the Ontario Hockey Federation determined The Hockey Loft didn't meet the definition of a league.

"So a league in Hockey Canada is three or more teams that compete in a series of games, or a set number of games." explained OHF Executive Director, Phil McKee.

"In this case, it was only two teams at their Tyke and Novice level ... at other levels they (Hockey Loft) had three or more teams and it took us a while to investigate, figure out how many teams are actually operating and running. Tyke and Novice level it was determined that they didn't fit within the non-sanctioned league policy (Hockey Canada) because they were only operating with two teams." he added.

McKee said the OHF will also work with the other associations to improve on how they handle this issue in the future.

The parents of the three Hespeler Minor Hockey Association players and coach found out about the suspensions via letter.

"As far as the decision, in the future, a call to the parent first and then following that up with an email, sending out the situation," McKee told The Mike Farwell Show on 570 NEWS.

He also said no one on the Hespeler Minor Hockey Association executive has been disciplined for taking the original action.

"We have worked with them on how to handle these situations in the future ... take the situation as a learning moment. These are not normal situations and ones we've got to make sure that they're prepared for in the future if they do come up,"

McKee said that included sitting down with the families after the suspensions were reversed.

KitchenerToday/Rogers Media


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Blair Adams

About the Author: Blair Adams

Blair is the editor of CityNews Kitchener
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