Hammer falls on Gulls and Ducks (mostly Gulls, ofc)

[SDhockeydad07]

So the fight at the end of the 12/23 game between Gulls AA2 and Ducks AA2 finally has their day in "court." 


Result was suspensions... suspensions for everyone!!  Unless you're the Ducks, then some of your kids we'll let slide.  CAHA's infinite wisdom from their ivory, orange and black tower says that every single player that left the bench during the fight will be suspended a game (unless you're a duck, then it's only most of you).  No matter that the buzzer had sounded, and the fight started (by a JD) along the half wall, out of sight of the benches for the most part. No matter that most of the kids from both teams stepped out on the ice because they thought it was time to do hand shake line. No matter than even kids who stepped out onto the ice not knowing a brawl had broken out in the corner, saw it, and didn't get engaged even in the slightest... you still get a game suspension (unless you're a JD, then maybe not)!!! If you so much as touched another player, even in the interest of breaking something up, you... you filthy, over-exuberant, heathen... you get TWO GAMES! And if you happen to get called for 3rd man in (even if you were actually the 4th man in as all 3 videos showed), you get THREE GAMES!!![size=78%] [/size]


And that's not even the best part... the best part is this:  rules state that a team must have a minimum of 6 players to officially start a game (less and the game is automatically forfeit).  But, a forfeited game does NOT count towards a suspension served.  So we've got a quandry.  The Gulls2 doesn't have 6 players left who don't have at least 1 game suspension.  CAHA won't let any roster alterations occur (i.e., roster AA kids onto tourney teams to serve a game or bring up single A players to get to the 6 player minimum).  All requests for relief/mitigation have been met with "Not our problem!" Thanks Rosemary! Thanks so much for your hard work! 


So what are these teams supposed to do now that they're stuck in an error loop?  Neither team has enough to meet the 6 player minimum. 


Great job CAHA! You friggin wank jobs...


Oh but thank you so much for the opportunity to appeal... and the opportunity to pay $250 just to file and then possibly pay travel fees of any board member that has to travel to hear the appeal.  Such a diabolical cash grab! Honestly, I'm not even mad at that, I'm impressed.  Because literally half the kids that got suspended on both teams did nothing but step off the bench to go to hand shake line, and found themselves in a front row seat to a 1980's NHL hockey re-enactment. That's probably a cool $2k in your pocket when all is said and done!


Did suspensions happen that were deserved?  Absolutely!  Multiple players from both teams deserved their punishments.  But there were also plenty of kids that deserved NADA and got a game suspension.  The main problem, was that the 13 year old referee let shit slide from shift one.  Late whistles on goalie covers, no calls on dirty stuff, etc.  Completely let this get out of control and this is what you get.  If you don't take the top off the kettle when it's starting to whistle, it's going to boil over and make a mess. Now CAHA is trying to clean up that mess, but they're trying to use a bulldozer to do it.


/endrant 

[Hockey sophist]

San DiegoHockey Dad 07 - Wow.   Just Wow.   CAHA website does list a huge number of suspensions.     

The lessons for other clubs, parents, and players? 

1.  The Catch-22 element of not having enough kids left to play to remove suspensions clearly needs to be addressed.   Perhaps the rules should allow suspensions to be served at different points in the season.   Thoughtless governance.

2.  Kids age 13 or so should not be refereeing anything other than Mite or Squirts.   We had a similar referee at a recent tournament and the kid was totally intimidated by Bantam AA  players.   Another rule change needed.
3.  One life lesson that our son has gotten from hockey is emotional control.   Penalties hurt the player and the team.  It is an issue we talk about at home.   There can be a lot of provocation in a game.  Better to ignore it although not always possible.
4.  If such massive penalties are going to be assessed, really good video records of games are needed.    Assessing  suspensions to kids who simply left the bench for the handshake seems a little too much and grossly unfair.   Hard to assess intent on video. 

5.  Some coaches and clubs (Gulls being an offending club from observations at other age groups) need to be held accountable, too, as their style of play invites retaliation.   In a case like this, it seems as if referees, coaches, and clubs share more responsibility than 11-12 year old players.   

[TheFourthA]

So it looks like the suspensions have now been staggered; does that do away with the forfeit scenario?

[SDhockeydad07]

Yes. Keeps the season from ending, but still about 5 kids or so from each team serving a suspension they probably don't deserve.

[Hockey sophist]

SD hockey dad 07:  Staggering the suspensions is a positive step.   Whether all the kids suspended deserved it is a legitimate question but be thankful for small mercies.   It is a learning opportunity that life isn't fair.  Maybe hockey has too many of those lessons but still a lovely sport.