ORLANDO, FLA – Less than a month ago, Augusta RiverHawks forward Aaron McGill was the center of a great deal of unwanted attention instigated by his rough and tumble style of play. Tuesday afternoon, that style cost him the rest of the 2010-2011 regular season and the playoffs.
SPHL President Jim Combs announced Tuesday that McGill has been suspended for the balance of the season (13 games) and all of the post season as a result of a punch that broke the jaw of Knoxville Ice Bears defenseman
Augusta%27s Aaron McGill was suspended Tuesday by the SPHL (PHN photo by Stephanie Simpers)
“It’s (sucker punch) not a hockey play. It’s not something that’s part of the game,” Combs said about McGill’s shot to Van Vliet’s jaw. “It’s not something that we can sit back as a league and say that it’s going to be acceptable behavior.”
Saturday’s incident came with 1:42 left in the third period and the host Ice Bears leading 5-1. A whistle stopped play with several players mulling around behind the Knoxville net. McGill and Van Vliet came together, drawing both linesmen in to attempt to avert any semblance of a fight. Roughly ten seconds passed as the pair of players continued to stare each other down while the officials grabbed hold of them.
All of a sudden, McGill launched his fist in Van Vliet’s direction. Van Vliet appeared to not be expecting the punch and with the linesman holding on, did not appear to have any defense for the blow. McGill’s shot connected, snapping Van Vliet’s head back before the two fell to the ice with McGill on top and the linesmen diving in to break up the brawl.
Combs said that several factors surrounding the incident left the league with no choice but to levy what is the largest suspension based on games to be missed in the history of the league.
“When the play happened, obviously we looked at the time period between when the whistle blew and when the sucker punch happened. The player that got hit (Van Vliet) was in a defenseless position. The linesman was there – he was in between the players. The guy’s hands were down. He was not there to defend himself and there wasn’t going to be a fight,” Combs said. “McGill decided to take the opportunity to punch the guy in the face and unfortunately it shattered the guy’s jaw. The guy is going to be out four to six weeks. Once he (McGill) delivered the punch and ended the season for the Knoxville player, he in effect ended his own season.”
Just over two weeks ago, McGill was the center of controversy thanks to his aggressive play. Because of three separate hits that left players including star defenseman Steve Weidlich injured, the Mississippi Surge felt they owed McGill some payback. With a roster spot open, coach Steffon Walby signed Brandon Elliott to a three-game tryout contract. Elliott’s alleged assignment was to confront McGill on the ice in Biloxi and he did, earning himself more than 30 minutes in penalty time, a game misconduct and banishment from the SPHL.
Combs, who has delegated much of the responsibility for handing out supplementary discipline to league vice president Doug Price, said that as far as he knew the Saturday incident was what drew the stiff penalty, not the entire list of hits and injured players.
“Doug does most of the discipline so I don’t see all of it but I don’t believe the Weidlich hit was even turned in (for review). I believe it was a legal body check. The fact that he (McGill) in that situation injured a guy, that’s hockey, that’s part of the game,” he said. “A sucker punch when a guy is standing there defenseless being held by a linesman or if the linesmen are in there trying to separate guys out and he throws a punch at that time is just inappropriate and unacceptable.”
McGill’s actions angered Craigen to the point where he did not mince words in the local media, challenging Combs and the league to ban McGill. Combs said that Craigen was fined for his comments but that the two talked and each understands the other’s position.
“At the end of the day, there was a fine issued for his comments in the paper there Sunday. He understands that,” Combs said. “Part of what Mike Craigen brings is his emotion and his passion for the game, which is a good thing but sometimes it gets us in trouble when we get too emotional about things. He said some things that in retrospect that he said he wished he hadn’t said at the time. It’s hard to describe but we’re all a lot smarter on Sunday morning than we are on Saturday night. Sometimes it is better to just back up, relax and regain our thoughts and go from there.”
The incident in Knoxville was just one of three that occurred over the weekend. Louisiana’s Marc Rechlicz was handed a two-game suspension for instigating a brawl at the end of the IceGators’ game against Pensacola. He was assessed a minor penalty for instigating a fight, a major for fighting, a game misconduct under Rule 46.11 (Instigator in final five minutes of regulation) and a game misconduct under Rule 20.4 for drawing his third major penalty in the same game.
The other situation occurred during the Mississippi game against Huntsville. Surge forward Matt Zultek was assessed a match penalty for cross-checking the Havocs’ Bill McCreary in the back of the head while McCreary was on the ice on all fours late in the first period of the contest. His penalty will be reviewed and an announcement on further punitive measures (if any) will be announced Wednesday.
Most years, the tensions in SPHL games don’t reach a high point until March as teams scratch and claw for playoff spots. Even though the number of nasty clashes seems to have risen well in front its normal time, Combs sees a positive in it all.
“It’s good that people want to win. The games are close. The standings are close and people want to win. They have passion for that,” he said. “We’ve been very lucky all year as far as our discipline and what’s gone on on the ice. This past weekend was way out of line.”
Combs did say that RiverHawks have appealed the ruling and expects a decision on the appeal within the next few days. He also added that because of the length of the suspension, Augusta would be allowed to make a roster move to inactivate McGill for the purposes of replacing him.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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