The Tommies sophomore head coach has suspended forward Alex Leduc indefinitely for conduct unbecoming a student athlete. During the third period of the Tommies' 5-0 loss to the Saint Mary's Huskies on home ice Saturday night, Leduc, who transferred to STU from the Université de Moncton in the off season, was penalized for four minutes for spearing Saint Mary's forward Brad Smith, who suffered a broken ankle on the play. Ryan said in a statement that Leduc showed clear intent to injure an opposing player. 'That type of behaviour is not acceptable and it will not be tolerated by our men's hockey program,' said Ryan in a statement. 'On behalf of our program, I would like to apologize to Brad Smith and the Saint Mary's hockey program. I know that this does not make the situation any better, but hopefully it will prevent similar situations from happening again. In my opinion, it was completely out of frustration and was done so thinking there would be no consequences. Smith was the target because he happened to be in a vulnerable situation and Alex took his frustrations out on him.' Leduc, a 23-year-old native of Verdun, Que., played last season for UdeM, scoring eight goals and seven assists for 15 points while accumulating 40 penalty minutes in 23 games.After being checked from behind by Huskies forward Josh Domingues close to the players benches, Leduc lashed out at Smith, who happened to be the closest SMU player to him at the time. Smith layed on the ice in obvious discomfort, as a scrum ensued between several players, including Leduc, immediately in the area where both incidents occurred. STU's Athletic Therapist Patrick Carmichael would assist in helping Smith from the ice and to the Tommies medical area for treatment.
From the Chronicle Herald "Tommies forward suspended for intent to injure SMU player"
SMU head coach Trevor Stienburg praised his St. Thomas counterpart, Troy Ryan, for taking action on Leduc. It’s a breath of fresh air to have a coach in this league to take a stand like he did," Stienburg said Tuesday. “Troy stood behind his principles and it speaks clearly of what kind of coach, and person, he is."
I have not met Troy Ryan, but it is my belief over time that he WILL fix the program. It was all but destroyed by the previous coach (not up for debate)....which begs the question, where else could you get a promotion for that type of performance? The fear I have is that Mr.Ryan is swimming "up stream"....that is an easy read.
ReplyDeleteIf there are not changes, STU mens hockey will follow Mt.A.