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Today's Poll!Capitals hockey team suspended from league play
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The Jefferson City Capitals high school varsity and junior varsity teams have been suspended from participating in the Mid America High School Hockey League for violating league conduct rules.
The Capitals varsity and junior varsity teams had all their games forfeited this season and will not be allowed to participate in the upcoming playoffs.
Through 18 games, the Capitals varsity team had nearly 140 more penalty minutes than the next nearest team in the nine-team league, MAHSHL commissioner Dennis King said in a statement released last week. He also stated there have been 12 game or match penalties assessed to the Capitals, close to the combined total of the other eight league teams.
“Following several incidences this season and communications from the league with the coaching staff, there has been no progress in improving the team’s conduct,” King stated. “… When this type of conduct is consistent game after game, the league objective to provide a safe environment while exhibiting sportsmanship and behavior beyond reproach is compromised.”
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Comments
jDeeken 2 years, 3 months ago
Who is the coach and why have the parents allowed this to go on? And we wonder why some children behave the way they do. I feel that the parents are as guilty as the coach.Not much class in that group of people! Jack Deeken
Statesmen 2 years, 3 months ago
Living in St Louis and having played Jeff City teams over the years, I feel this drastic step was long overdue. It was not a bad apple or a kid or two, It appeared to be a bad hockey culture. No other teams we have ever played exhibited such excessive poor sportsmanship. We were at games where our parents were threatened. One game the police came to remove several Jeff City parents for threatening violence. The Jeff City coaches routinely used foul language at our team and coaches, as well as their own players! Their players were clearly taught to play dirty and provoke fights. Even the officiating was clearly biased. Sounds like a statement form a sore-loser I understand, but it was just too obvious. And it occured at more than a single game. One year, the Jeff City team printed T-shirts mocking a St. Louis team even though league rules clearly prohibit this. At one youth hockey game, our coach voluntarily left the game as a sign of protest over how the entire game was being handled. This is not just at the High School level and Jeff City parents need to address this at all levels in youth hockey. I think the high school players are being tought this dispicable way to play from an early start. Congratulations to league managment for taking this bold and overdue step to make Jefferson City respectable again.
wcywing 2 years, 3 months ago
this sounds like 70's style hockey that the flyers used to do. hopefully some good can come out of this.
Gotigers 2 years, 3 months ago
That is an embarrasement to the community.
whocares 2 years, 3 months ago
jcyouthhockey.com/committee. Is this the same group?
herewego 2 years, 3 months ago
Time to find new leadership/coach. OR disband, wait 5 years and start over. Purge, purge, purge.
djn 2 years, 3 months ago
This story is truly hard to believe
djn 2 years, 3 months ago
The most shocking part of this story is that our Jefferson City Capitols team (the same team minus the kids that left due to graduation) ended-up in first or second place in the MAHSH league last year. I might say...against all odds.
Barney27 2 years, 3 months ago
There are two sides to every story. Wichita had the same amount of suspensions and are still allowed to play in this league.Too bad some of you are quick to make judgement before knowing your facts.This Capitals team also had and 8th grader lead the JV league in goals.
Rison 2 years, 3 months ago
"Too bad some of you are quick to make judgement before knowing your facts."
Par for the course around here.
MommaR 2 years, 3 months ago
if you go by what is in the story, it says that jc had 140 min longer penalty time and almost as many penalties as all other 8 teams combined...so the writer of this story is lying?
Barney27 2 years, 3 months ago
Yes it is false. They combined Capitals Varsity and JV penalty minutes compare only to Varsity. If any of you have ever played the great sport of hockey you would realize that when you play hard your bound to get penalties. Do basketball players foul out? Penalties are part of the game. The reason they were suspended was cause of 2 kicking incedents and obscene gestures. Which those kids that did that should have been dealt with not both teams. I understand some of you have to be so quick to judge others take you feel better about yourself but remember these are kids you are talking about that have made these mistakes. I'm sure you people that are so quick to pass judgement have never made any mistakes as a teenager.
JCLifer 2 years, 3 months ago
It's refreshing to see that mistakes have consequences. That will teach good sportsmanship.
bluesfan13 2 years, 3 months ago
It does seem to stretch the reality of league statistics. The league website shows 11 game misconducts issued to Wichita alone this season, so I find it hard to believe that Jefferson City's 12 "game or match penalties" are "close to the combined total of the other eight league teams".
Barney27 2 years, 3 months ago
Go the the leagues website and you will see the suspensions. This will not show up as a link so you must add to the beginning of the link mahshl.org/page.php?page_id=18561
Northernexposure 2 years, 3 months ago
Yeah... but they are also in the NHL. Fighting amongst high school and college hockey is unacceptable and frowned upon.
whocares 2 years, 3 months ago
Lv2ualways-everyone has an opinion on it and has the right to voice it. Take a step back and look at the hostility you are showing and realize that your kids will be behaving the same way, Nice. Good luck to you, you'll need it.
online_editor 2 years, 3 months ago
A general reminder to keep us on track... Please help us keep the forum discussions focused on general issues related to the news story, rather than personal insults and accusations. The latter may be reported as abuse and removed. Thank you. --Rick Brown, online editor, News Tribune
Barney27 2 years, 3 months ago
Dear Online Editor Rick Brown I would like to know where you are recieving your information at. Cause its obvious you dont have the full story. I was a JV coach for the Capitals team. Which my team had suffered a totally unfair decision based on the the facts.
Northernexposure 2 years, 3 months ago
Perhaps the suspension will make the Captials realize that their violent tendencies with child-like mentalities are unappreciated at the high school level.
JCLifer 2 years, 3 months ago
Congrats to the League for upholding the values of good ethical behavior and sportsmanship.
With the attitudes of some of the parents here, I doubt if any learning will take place from this dicipline.
wcywing 2 years, 3 months ago
was there any due process? was there any warnings? what if a HS football team had a lot of penalties, would they have suffered the same fate? how come Wichita was not suspended with 11 penalites? something smells fishy here.
greenhorn 2 years, 3 months ago
As a parent of a Capitals player, I would like to chime in also. It is embarrassing for the community, the team, and the club. Something needed to be done. We were given a warning and we didn't do enough to please the league. Did the kids do enough to justify a suspension from the league---NO. If we are going to point the finger, it needs to be pointed at ALL Coaches, Board Members, the League, and obviously a few kids. I hate to include kids into this, but a few of the penalties were not "normal" penalities (other teams had them also). Is parenting an issue, of course. Isn't it everywhere we look nowadays. I hope, for the future of the program, this is something that opens the eyes of everyone involved and gets us back on track of building a successful program in mid missouri. Sincerely, Ken Hensel
whocares 2 years, 3 months ago
I just want to say thank you to Ken for stepping up and being a good role model for this situation. Nicely handled.
rollnthndr 2 years, 3 months ago
An unfortunate situation for the hockey program in this community. Why didn't the coaches step up and remove the player(s) causing the most of the problems? USA hockey has rules that deal with these situations. Unfortunately if the player(s) don't get the message the coaching staff should impose additional penalties on these player(s). Don't play them, lengthen their suspension beyond what the rule book specifies, do what you need to do to get the point across.
Did the hockey board prohibit the coaches from imposing stiffer penalties because the guilty players' parents objected to additional penalties imposed by the team? Where were the leaders on the team? Specifically the player(s). Did any of them go to the coaching staff and let them know they would be in support of them removing them problem(s) from the team?
Hockey is a wonderful game, please don't let this unfortunate situation inhibit the efforts of a good organization in this community.
JCLifer 2 years, 3 months ago
Who are the coaches?
Who are the board members?
rollnthndr 2 years, 3 months ago
After reviewing the suspensions on the MAHSHL web page, the league needs to deal with the issue of rough and dangerous play by all teams. Why was Jeff City singled out? Not sure but they probably have their reasons. Unfortunately this age group tends to have these type of issues around the country and it gives a great game a black eye. Unfortunately hockey is not a main stream sport in this part of the US.
Many times organizations don't come down as hard on a player as they should because of the smaller number of players on a team and suspending multiple players for extended time periods has a negative impact on the remainder of the team. In addition families pay significant sums of money for their children to participate and I've witnessed parents objecting to additional penalties beyond what the rule book calls for because of the financial committment. I'm not making excuses for the behavior, but this is the reality.
If hockey is to move into the main stream of high school sports in this community the club needs to eliminate this type of conduct. This behavior would not be tolerated by school sports and it should not be tolerated by a club sport either, irregardless of how much it costs to particpate, the number of players on a team, or the skill level of the player involved.
Luccaass 2 years ago
I'm a bit late to the fray here as I only heard of this suspension when I was home this past weekend visiting. To be honest, I'm a bit removed from the situation, but I feel I can provide some insight as I grew up skating for the Capitals, moving away for college in 2002 after playing on the varsity team throughout high school (minus one year when I played midgets due to a coaching controversy). We had some great teams, going undefeated through all but one game of the regular season (some 18-20 straight games) my sophomore year, and making a fairly deep run into the playoffs my senior year. I can honestly say it's a tough league. It always has been. I remember a player having his arm broken in an exhibition game. There were countless concussions and scares from hits along the boards. I personally earned nearly thirty stitches in my face (though never in one sitting) from hard, helmet-to-helmet hits and cross-checks coming up high and under my chin. But this is what kids and, sadly, adults in Missouri, not just Jefferson City, think hockey is all about. It wasn't until I moved away and started coaching at a high level of play that I realized how misunderstood this beautiful game is back home. I personally know Matt Hart, the coach of this team, and have for years. I have skated with and against him. He is a great guy, and though he prefers the physical side of the game, I seriously doubt he was coaching these kids to play like the 70's Flyers (which is an absolutely ridiculous analogy that proves everyone who has mentioned it knows nothing about the dynamics of youth hockey). From what I can tell, it seems the league, much like all of USA Hockey, is looking to send a message because of the increased violence in youth hockey. Jefferson City had the highest numbers, so they became the message in Missouri. It's over. What is important now is to make the necessary improvements, to learn the game, to teach kids from an early age that you hit for possession of the puck, period, and that fighting has no place in youth hockey (you're wearing cages and slapping at each other with gloves on. Stop! It's flat-out embarrassing). Coaches shouldn't forgive the pointless hits and brawling and parents shouldn't condone or cheer for any of it. I can only hope that this suspension won't be a blemish for the program, but instead becomes a catalyst for developing better youth hockey. Bring in some quality presenters to put on a clinic for parents and coaches. Start with the peewees (or bantams after the new rule change); teach them how to protect themselves, make a clean hit, and ingrain in them the fact that the puck is the most important thing on the ice.
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