UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Zanleoni Suspension

Jan 31st, 2013 11:50 PM

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The suspension to Jay Zanleoni has been excessive and unfair to both him and the rest of the Whalers team, and I'd like to ask for an explanation as to why he has been required to sit out the last three games.

Jay did the appropriate thing in coming forward and stating that he went hard on the play that injured Will Meyer and took responsibility for his actions. The play itself was a hockey play. It happened in the course of the action, and I saw it in the offensive zone as I manned the blue line. It was not penalized, nor did it strike me at the time as something that clearly needed to be. However, it still resulted in an injury to Meyer, and all of us understood the fairness of a short suspension for the sake of keeping the league clean. However, three games has been far too long for such a play.

As an example, I like playing against Marshy. He's a guy that puts forth the effort every game and brings a good, upbeat, competitive attitude that fits the concept of men's league hockey. I'll use him as an example, however, because he's a bigger, stronger player that goes hard. If a similar play happened where he crashed into me behind the net and I suffered an injury, I wouldn't think he'd be suspended for three games.

There are a few factors that contribute to this.

- The first is that Meyer is one of the league's best players and I'm just some average guy. It seems to me that by taking a stand on an injury to one of the best players in the league, it's designed to make a point that it's never ok to take a shot at another team's best player. That's not to suggest that Jay did such a thing, and this never seems to be a problem due to the integrity with which UVHL players approach the game. However, I think that an injury to me could be easily swept under the rug since I'm a relative no-namer, and that Jay was penalized for the quality of the player that was injured, not the play itself.

- The second factor that contributed to this is that the Whalers have the image of a happy-go-lucky team and we haven't spoken up. You needn't watch more than the first 60 seconds of the Nordiques-Whalers game on Tuesday to realize that if a Nord got suspended, the team would have chirped and complained until their player was put back on the ice. We, the Whalers, have accepted this suspension for three games with relatively little feedback, and it's time that someone on our team speak up and request an explanation.

I won't blame either of the two recent Whalers losses solely on Jay's absence. However, he shows up every single week and is a big contributor to the team. It was evident in the way we lost momentum on Tuesday with five forwards and three defensemen that an additional skater, especially of his caliber, would have helped our performance.

We've sat quiet for three weeks and tried to let this play its course, but by this past game, the suspension became something that seemed excessive and unfair, not just to the player or the team, but the league as a whole. We deserve an explanation as to why the suspension was so harsh, and I hope that such criteria will be noted for any future reference (although I hope we have no similar such instances).

Should a similar instance ever arise, it would make a lot more sense to determine the suspension before the following week's games are played. This one has seemed to be off-the-cuff and loosely based on whether Meyer has been healthy enough to play, which he has not. (Let's say a player breaks a bone on a questionable play and misses two months. I can't see it happening that the player that hurt him misses all that time as well.)

I'll close be wishing Will the best. I enjoy playing against him, and I hope he is close to returning. Head injures aren't something to be taken lightly, and I know everyone on our team, especially Jay, was disappointed to find out he'd gotten hurt.

Thanks,
Stally