A League-Imposed Break

I'll be fully honest in saying that I don't follow the CHL or its respective leagues likely as much as I did when the Winnipeg Ice were still a team. The Ice gave a reason to check in on the WHL and the other leagues under the CHL's umbrella, but I admittedly have not being doing that since they relocated to Wenatchee. Having spent the day in Brandon, it got me thinking that I should do more, and then social media got into the act tonight as several accounts posted the same clip from the OHL that will likely give one player a league-imposed break from hockey. The player pictured above is that player, and his name is Adam Levac who is a second-year centerman for the OHL's Peterborough Petes.

Levac is having himself a solid season this year. He skated in 57 games last year as 16 year-old where he had six goals and ten points, and he's shown solid improvement this season with 14 goals and 36 points in 48 games. Being a solid scorer at the OHL level is always encouraging to see because younger players can be overwhelmed by the league and its older players who often get the scoring chances.

In saying that, there is one thing that Levac doesn't do at this point in his career, and that's being an enforcer for the Petes. Levac has just one career fight in the OHL so far, but has been known to a throw a big hit every now and then as he has a physical side. Tonight, though, he used a move during a skirmish that will force him to miss games.

Let's go to the video from tonight's contest between the Petes and the Ottawa 67's where a melee broke out on the ice where Levac was paired up with Ottawa defender Kaleb Dietsch for some dancing.

I'm not sure what was going through Levac's mind when he swept the leg out from under Dietsch, but that move earned him a five-minute major penalty and a match penalty. I can understand Levac likely wasn't appreciating Dietsch's jabs despite him wearing his gloves, but that's what can happen when a player stands three inches shorter in a fight. What Levac did was completely uncalled for and rightfully deserves supplemental discipline, so he should expect a call from the OHL as early as tomorrow before the Petes arrive in Kingston.

I believe it should be a heavy suspension based on Levac's actions. As we know, the slew-foot alone will like get him a game or two, so that's a given. However, the fact that Levac landed on top of Dietsch and then started throwing punches will likely get him the longer suspension that he deserves. Had Dietsch been injured by the slew-foot move, this could have been much worse. Thankfully, it wasn't, but Levac doesn't get rewarded because Dietsch avoided injury.

Secondly, Dietsch has six total fights in his career. The jabs he threw with a gloved hand are done to keep Levac at a distance rather than trying to hurt him. I'm not saying that Diestch wasn't prepared to drop the gloves, but the fact that he still had his gloves on as Levac engaged him suggests he wasn't looking for a fight. In using his longer reach, he kept Levac where he could avoid damage, and that's when Levac pulled out the slew-foot to put Dietsch on his back.

Based on all of this evidence, this has to be a ten-game suspension. The slew-foot alone has to be worth two or three games just for safety reasons, but Levac landing on top of him and throwing punches will add another six-to-eight games for me. I'm not saying that Levac and Dietsch weren't going to fight had this played out normally, but the fact that Levac decided to commit two egregious acts - slew-footing an opponent and punching a player whil he's down - means that a message must be sent so this doesn't happen again.

No one is saying that Adam Levac is a bad player. He simply made bad decisions that could have resulted in terrible things happening to another player. I'm glad that Kaleb Dietsch is alright and will likely play against Sudbury on Sunday, but Levac should probably be prepared to watch a lot of game film over the next two weeks because he won't soon be on the ice for the Peterborough Petes.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!