In the matter of Joey Hishon of the Owen Sound Attack, serving a 6 game suspension in the OHL for a punch delivered to Ryan Strome of the IceDogs last Thursday, the suspension is a joke…
The incident in a sport that allows, if not endorses & encourages, fighting was minor, and you’ll see that same act, or a form thereof, probably two dozen times in any game at every level beginning at PeeWee.
Of course, being connected to the Owen Sound team, people wouldn’t expect me to assess this any other way.
Fair enough. And I understand those suspicions…..
But here’s the greater issue, and by far the most understated aspect of the situation.
Hishon will never be confused with Urijah Faber or any other bantamweight fighter.
Joey Hishon is a hockey player, a very gifted hockey player, and I’m really hard pressed to think whether or not he’s thrown a punch over his lengthy term in Owen Sound.
The punch last Thursday on Strome, which I felt was less of a punch and more of a ” buzz off ” jab, either landed perfectly, or more likely, struck an opponent with a vulnerable head.
Strome certainly isn’t faking this, nor are the IceDogs holding him out of the lineup to make a case.
He got rocked, and in the world of Junior Hockey, let alone pro hockey where Strome’s skill level should take him, he’ll get hit a lot harder by players with far more clout than Hishon.
In my mind, I keep hearing Jeff Reid, the former Attack coach who retired from pro hockey due to repeated concussions, explaining how he suffered 9 concussions in his career, and how each concussion in the sequence seemingly was suffered with less and less force applied or received.
Is this Ryan Strome’s first concussion ?
In the future, will….geez, I don’t even want to think it.
Personally, I hope it’s Ryan Strome’s only concussion. Ever.
The fact is Hishon scored the game winner in the game Thursday, and in fairness, the most exciting player on the ice was Strome for the IceDogs.
Ironic.
Now unfortunately, they both sit, at length, due to a variety of factors neither probably envisioned 6 days ago.
I’m Fred Wallace