London coach points finger at epidemic head injuries plaging Nats lineup.

[Oglethorp]

The following is a quote from the London Free Press following a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Leamington Flyers.

Step one is to get John Warren healthy. He’s the Nats most dynamic offensive player, with 28 goals and 53 points in just 26 games. The power play dearly missed him in this defeat.

“He’s a huge factor,” Ferreira said. “He runs the point and shoots pretty much everything. You know when he gets the puck on his stick, it’s going to be a good scoring chance. He shouldn’t be out too much longer.”

He wasn’t dressed after suffering neck stiffness from an ill-placed high hit last week against Strathroy.

He’s day-to-day, but he missed a month already this season after taking an unsuspected hit to the head in open ice against Leamington that went unpunished.

“It’s more of a precautionary thing,” London coach Pat Powers said. “John’s a guy who gets a lot of attention. He’s a top player in our league and coming down the stretch, we’re going to make sure he’s healthy when the time comes.

“That’s important for him too.”

The Nats have been in this situation way too many times this season.

Forward Ethan Cocurullo suffered a concussion and is finished for the season. He isn’t expected to play for London again.

Kyle Robinson, an effective veteran forward, has been out a month recovering from the same ailment.

“You worry about all these guys who have been taking head shots and targeted for one reason or another,” Powers said. “It’s an alarming thing that’s occurring in hockey throughout the world right now. It’s unfortunate we’re seeing the impact of it in our league, too. We’ve got guys trying to go to university and they’re suffering from these head checks.

“It’s hard to go to school and nothing really gets done. The symptoms of these hits (often) don’t come out until after a week or so. It’s a reality of our game right now.”

[flyers2011]

I hope the London coach wasn't blaming the loss because warren wasn't there. Leamington was missing Amante who is there best player, Phibbs one of the leading scorers, Emerson, Mainella, Florence, and no Manchurek yet and Wall wasn't available either. Was quite impressed with all those guys out of the lineup they were still able to beat the 2nd place Nationals.

[Port hockey1]

There needs to be strong suspensions for head shots. Every time there's a head shot, it should be reviewed by the league.

There needs to be a 5 game minimum suspension for a first offense, and 10 for a second offense, 20 for a third offense. And those should be minimums. Pending on the video review, they can be longer.

It's the only way to get it out of the game. It's happening at all levels of hockey and it's time for a no nonsense approach.