Irony

Final words on coaching suspension until a status change. There is a bit of humor in all this. I go tilting at windmills, looking to get the establishment to budge in my search for supplemental discipline. There's a lot of Hammurabi's code when it comes to the history of hockey discipline...eye for an eye sort of thing. Tom gets whacked illegally leading to 5 games lost due to concussion. Seemed like a reasonable starting point. In a comical twist, I got the suspension all right, my own. Remind me not to do my own negotiating.
Bergen Record reporter found the development interesting. NJYHL and Youth Devils might consider suspending their P.R. folks in addition to moi.

Tom is quite motivated. Has had two practices, and happily went public skating twice this weekend in anticipation of his first game back. Had a conflict with the Devils, so he played for his school. Was one of eight skaters for Mountain Lakes, converted a goal mouth scramble in the third, and emerged with a GWG. Shared the experience in the stands with son Ted, ex wife and her boyfriend. Kinfolk Karma. Next stop, thanksgiving in DC with Junior Devils and Grandfolks and second cousins. Taking Amtrak down, old school. We'll hustle home and catch the middle school game if we're lucky.

Spoke to Randolph HS coach, a former def partner. Spoke about how lucrative coaching is. Pity I got tangled in this controversy, not exactly good news for prospective employers. All part of the journey, we'll see how it turns out. If the priority is what's best for Tom, things are still pretty OK. Psyched for DC...should be a gas.

bounced!

Things got a little too hot for the Devils youth hockey organization, and as of now, yours truly is a former coach. I'll digest the info of my ouster before writing, lest I get too emotionally reactive, but...It kinda boils down to gassing the guy who goes public with the concussion outrage. A 2:00 penalty for concussing an 11 year old isn't the right message. I guess both parties fell into the cliche of "you gotta do what you gotta do." Now I can join the Hockey gossip dads, somewhere I know I'll fit right in. Not quite as useful on the resume...hah!

cleared to play

On Monday Thomas was checked out by his pediatrician and was cleared to resume playing. We kept him out of the checking drills at practice, and will have one more practice before a game on Sunday. His headaches have been gone for about a week now.

A reporter from the Bergen Record checked in. He's doing a feature on concussions in youth sports, and finds Tom's story interesting because he hasn't encountered any pre-teens with sports concussions before. In this case, "coming in first" is most definitely not a good thing. In my dual role as parent and coach, the parent side is leading the way as I protest the act that injured Tom.

What happens at the next level, after the hormonal changes that accompany puberty? The force of hits will increase as will the tendency toward violent collisions. If you chart it on a graph, the increase in violent collisions will be exponential. As a parent of a kid who's already had his first of say, three strikes, with the second strike much easier to attain, it doesn't project well for Tom. The goal is to avoid that first one, but sadly, that threshold has been passed.

Saving grace: Tom had his mouthguard in place and was biting down it when he was injured. I'm sure it reduced the trauma. We are now looking into the Messier helmet for additional protection.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/266170-the-messier-project-mark-messier-leads-fight-against-concussions

Whether or not this helmet catches on probably depends on whether or not it passes the NHL "mirror test". If it looks too goofy, the pros wont wear it and it won't survive in the martketplace. Hope it passes.

The joy of hockey has sure been tempered in my world by the episode, as has the lack of supplemental discipline.

NYJHL Condoning head injuries?

The accompanying picture was taken of Thomas Rappleye from the ER last Friday night.

A formal complaint was filed with the NJYHL, youth hockey's governing body in the state of New Jersey. Essentially, Commissioner Robert Sullo allowed his referees to defend their 2:00 minor penalty call on the blow to Tom Rappleye's head, a blow that concussed him and has cost him 5 games and counting from his pee-wee season. That was the extent of the NJYL's action.

The point of the complaint was to try and motivate Sullo and the NJYHL to take action, not to defend their officials. So the perpetrator of the act, Mitch Romine of the Skyland Kings, continues to play after concussing another 11 year old, because he has served his 2:00 penalty. Meanwhile, the recipient of the hit is on the sidelines with post-concussion symptoms. Quick Review of USA Hockey Rule 616 (b): A MAJOR PLUS A GAME MISCONDUCT PENALTY SHALL BE IMPOSED ON ANY PLAYER WHO INJURES AN OPPONENT BY HEAD CONTACT. That penalty is supposed to be imposed regardless of the legality and recklessness of the hit. In this case, three eyewitnesses saw Romine cock his forearm before deovering the blow to the back of the head of a defenseless player kneeling down to retrieve his stick.

All readers familiar with sport are aware of how sensitive leagues are to head injuries; adult players in the NHL and the Ontario Hockey League have been sentenced to lengthy suspensions in recent weeks for CLEAN hits to the head of opponents. Sullo and the NJYHL seem to think that defending the referees suffices for sports justice.

So the question to all the readers is: What happens the next time Romine drills another player's head from behind? Who is responsible? Will a 2:00 penalty deter Romine from continuing his violent acts? I'm curious how the NJYHL will respond to the next head injury under their watch.

Obvious disclosure: Tom is my son. I watched the macabre scene play out before my eyes, listened in disbelief to the refs try to justify the call, and watched my Tom get taken to the hospital. The most distressing news to him was that Romine was given a mere 2:00 penalty.

Pee wee hockey is the first level that allows checking. I wonder how many parents want their children playing in the NJYHL with their concern (or lack thereof) for the players health?

Comments always appreciated.

Friday night-mare

Watching your son wobble to the bench and then puke his guts out from a blow to the head is an experience I wish on no one, even the perpetrator.

It was 90 feet across the rink from me, midway through the second period. Tom had dropped his stick in a tangle, leaned down to pick it up, puck came into his area, and he kicked it, returned to his task of pick up his stick, and got blasted in the back of his head with a forearm to the brain stem.

11 year olds playing roller ball. Disgusting.

I went out to tend to him, but was called in by coach Steve. We have three coaches, and one is a trained Emergency Medical Technician. He sent the right guy to deal with Tom. EMT/coach Kevin escorted Tom to the locker room, checked his eyes (not dilating to the light), his memory (returned quickly after first forgetting the day of the week and the opponent). He called for an ambulance and it was off to the emergency room.

So I'm staying in my spot as one of now two bench coaches, watching a pointless game deteriorate, listening to the ref justify a mere two minute penalty for a gratuitous, violent hit that hospitalized my son, and was by and large disgusted with youth sports.

After the game ended, the two teams shared a hallway returning to their locker rooms, an altercation ensued with the perpetrator, coaches were yelling at each other, all in the name of sport after a 9-1 drubbing. Sports, the driving force in my life for nearly 50 years, sucked. I couldn't believe I was going through the motions of coaching when my kid was in a hospital with a bruised brain. Intellectually, it was the right call--he was with his Mom, and EMT and a staff of hospital doctors. Emotionally, it was lunacy.

I arrived in time for the doctor's assessment: No loss of consciousness, no concussion. It seemed counter-intuitive, the kid was puking from a blow to the back of his head. But he remembered everything, his only lingering symptom was a mildly sore back.

Tom dutifully put on his official warmup outfit for the Saturday and Sunday games, and was quite distraught that he could not play Sunday because he felt perfect. The doctor advised no games or even gym class for a week, just to play it safe.

His Mom the lawyer is preparing to write up a complaint, I am digging up the details and some eyewitness accounts. 11 year olds shouldn't be cruising for big hits on unsuspecting opponents. The Ontario Hockey League, the final step before the NHL for most of Canadian junior players, suspended Michael Liambas of the Erie Otters for the year for a recent hit because the recipient did not have a chance to defend himself properly from a blow to the head. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPj-kCp1rGI

He had a better chance than Tom. Youth, divine Providence, and the fact that he was biting down on his mouthguard allowed Tom to survive his. We'll keep on eye out for recurrences. In the meantime, he is eager to play.

halleluhah!

6 week losing skid comes to an end. Tom a net crashing fool, picked up 3 goals over the weekend, including GWinner in final 2 minutes tonight in 7-6 thriller. I wanted to pull our shaky goalie but big Steve said to keep him in for big picture reasons. Turned out to be good call.

Half our kids skipped Halloween Game and we were in it til the end on SAT until we completely ran out of gas. Tom nearly puking bile in third, but got a huge fitness boost for his efforts.

In a day where I traveled over 200 miles to get first level of USA Hockey certification (Philly for cryin out loud!), our meager season has been saved. Our enigmatic Polish superstarAlex has been so overdue for a positive contribution to our club finally got on track. He is now teemed with Tom and a brutal defenseman who is now a perfect third member of the line. We have two more stars to play on the first line, and a stud Jayden has moved back to D. The team is now in business. The season has been saved.

coach Steve had a huge decision to make as to how to deal with SAT no-shows who arrived for SUN's game. He benched most of the truants for most of the first, still got contributions, kept the mediocre goalie in the game, and still got the win. Hurrah for us, we are a tough team to play against now.

Even though it didn't show up in a scoresheet in which Tom got 2-1-3, Late in a 1-goal game Tom outraced and turned a defenseman while carrying the puck, got a quality chance and crashed into the goalie, setting up two unrealized grade "A" chances. A big time play, looked like college. Plus, it was late in the shift, but the stakes were high and he found an extra fuel tank to make the play. Kid is a bitch to play against.

the evening ended with Tom leaving his stall in the happy locker room, laughing and sharing hockey love with Alex...such a good sign. Maybe his Mom will pay the final fill for the Lake Placid road trip, something she was reluctant to do after the recent struggles on the ice. Tom said it was like playing for an investor. Results required. Kind of an appropriate life lesson, though Freud might have fun with it.