Western Hockey League bans 4 players for the entire season
On February 11, the Western Hockey League released a press release stating that the league was opening an investigation into Marek Howell, Lynden Lakovic, Max Wanner and Connor Ungar. The press release stated that the four players were also being investigated by Edmonton Police.
The league announced they had suspended the four players indefinitely pending the results of the investigation. Earlier this week Edmonton Police announced that the incident "was not criminal in nature" and therefore the Department would have no further comment on the matter.
Today, the WHL announced that they had made their own decision and would be issuing their own punishment.
Warriors gm jason ripplinger and head coach mark o'leary have been suspended five regular season games and the team has been fined $25,000.
In a statement, the whl says the off-ice incident took place in edmonton in february and while edmonton police deemed it «not criminal in nature,» the incident «was determined to be a violation of team and league rules, the league said.
The league also announced that they would require everyone involved to take part in additional off ice "Personal Conduct and Respect Training". So despite the police not finding any crime, the league has opted to impose their own punishment. While the league holds every right to do so, you'd think the legal decision would hold some bearing with the league.
The league has refused to release details on the incident, which still leaves fans with more questions than answers.
| POLL | ||
Should the league be suspending players without releasing full information? | ||
| Yes, it's the leagues choice | 15 | 30.6 % |
| No, release the incident report or no suspension | 34 | 69.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
