Barrie Colts head coach Dylan Smoskowitz apologized Tuesday after comments from an awkward post-game OHL press conference the night before went viral.
Smoskowitz and team captain Kashawn Aitcheson received widespread criticism in sports media and online for repeating the same short phrase to questions posed by league media after Barrie advanced to the OHL championship with a 5-0 Game 7 win over the Brantford Bulldogs, Monday night, at TD Civic Centre.
The footage showed Smoskowitz and Aitcheson repeating the line “No one cares, work harder” to each question.
“Something I take pride in is being a coach in this great league,” the rookie bench boss told Barrie 360. “As part of this league, I also take great pride in my communication ability to get my thoughts across in a polite and professional way, which I was unable to do, and I deeply regret Monday night.
“It’s a good learning experience as a young coach, and something I will take with me for the rest of my career, and something I definitely won’t be doing again.”
Smoskowitz also wanted to make it clear that Aitcheson had nothing to do with the press conference comments and that the captain was following his lead. He believed that the New York Islanders prospect should not be held responsible for the incident at all.
“The responsibility totally falls on me,” said Smoskowitz, who also made an appearance on TSN 1050’s Overdrive to apologize and make it clear he regretted how he let his emotions get the best of him. “Kashawn Aitcheson was a part of that press conference, but by no means did that kid go in there with any kind of ill intent.
“He was just listening to what his coach said, just like a good captain does. Just like a good hockey player does.”
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Smoskowitz told Barrie 360 he wanted the entire team to attend the post-game press conference and wasn’t happy when they were told they couldn’t. He said it would be a good way to relay to all watching that the Colts are a family that wins and does everything together as a team.
“I just thought it would be a really cool experience,” he said. “You’re out there together, battling together. You take a picture around the trophy together. ‘Let’s go answer some questions from the media.’ Maybe you want to talk to Ben Hrebik about his great performance? Maybe you want to talk to Kashawn Aitcheson about his game-winning goal, or Carter Lowe’s hot streak, or Cole Beaudoin appearing on the bench as an assistant coach?
“Just to try and spread that love around.”
Instead, repeating the same short team motto shifted attention away from what should have been the focus: Barrie’s stunning comeback from a 3-1 series deficit to knock off the OHL’s top team and championship favourites.
“It was a very innocent thought of mind, but, again, I don’t like how I handled the aftermath of being denied the chance to take the team in,” said Smoskowitz, whose club opens the best-of-seven OHL championship series Wednesday night in Kitchener. “It definitely couldn’t have been handled better on my behalf, but I didn’t want to disrupt anything. I definitely didn’t want to disrespect the Brantford Bulldogs or Spencer Hyman’s team.
“I didn’t want to disrespect the media members, who are just simply trying to do a job, and I definitely didn’t want to take any focus away from what was an extremely hard-fought, extremely high-level Game 7 and series as a whole.”
OHL Commissioner Bryan Crawford told Kitchener-Waterloo Record reporter Josh Brown that the Colts would be punished for their actions at the press conference.
“I don’t know what that was about,” Crawford said to Brown. “They did a disservice to themselves.”
OHL CHAMPIONSHIP - TALE OF THE TAPE
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Barrie Colts – Defeat Niagara in 5, Defeat Ottawa in 5, Defeat Brantford in 7
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Kitchener Rangers – Defeat Saginaw in 4, Defeat Sault Ste. Marie in 5, Defeat Windsor in 5
REGULAR SEASON FINISH
Barrie – 1st in Central Division with 99 points
Kitchener – 1st in Midwest Division with 101 points
HEAD-TO-HEAD
BARRIE: 2-0
Oct. 25: Kitchener 3, Barrie 4 (OT)
Jan. 2: Barrie 3, Kitchener 2 (SO)
GOALS FOR/GOALS AGAINST
Barrie – 246/194
Kitchener – 261/179
TOP SCORERS
Barrie:
Kashawn Aitcheson (28-42-70), Ben Wilmott (27-39-66),
Kitchener:
Jack Pridham (46-44-90), Dylan Edwards (40-47-87)
SPECIALTY TEAMS
Barrie
Power Play: 3rd - 61 goals on 230 chances
Penalty Kill: 11th - 59 goals against on 269 chances
Shorthanded goals: 11
Kitchener
Power Play: 4th - 65 goals on 249 chances
Penalty Kill: 2nd - 43 goals against on 228 chances
Shorthanded goals: 19
GOALTENDING
Barrie:
Ben Hrebik: 43 GP, 2.81 GAA, .920 SV%
Arvin Jaswal: 24 GP, 2.45 GAA, .922 SV%
Kitchener:
Christian Kirsch: 41 GP, 2.42 GAA, .899 SV%
Jason Schaubel: 28 GP, 2.65 GAA, .897 SV%
PREDICTION
Colts in 7 games
