Kashawn Aitcheson won’t face the Sudbury Wolves until the Ontario Hockey League rules on allegations that the Central Division leaders placed a bounty on the Colts defenceman after an incident in a game in Barrie last month.
Barrie was once again without one of its top players in the lineup Wednesday night in Sudbury and the team says that won’t change until a league investigation into the matter is completed and dealt with by the league.
The alleged bounty stems from an incident that occurred during a Barrie and Sudbury game back on Jan. 18 at Sadlon Arena.
With just 4:23 remaining in the contest, Aitcheson delivered a hit on Wolves forward Nathan Villeneuve and no penalty was handed out on the play. Sudbury blueliner Nolan Collins then instigated a fight with Aitcheson.
The two Central Division rivals would meet three days later in Sudbury, but the Colts decided not to dress Aitcheson after the team said it learned of a bounty being placed on the player by the Wolves.
“Until they make a ruling of what we believe was a pretty outrageous thing that they did on the team and if we hadn’t got notice of it what would have happened,” said Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson after Barrie’s 7-3 win in Sudbury. “I know the league is going to make a fair judgement here, but we’ve said until they make their judgement, and from what I hear it’s going to be sooner than later, we’re not putting our guy on the ice until that team learns that something like that can’t happen.”
Attempts to reach the OHL and Wolves for comment were unsuccessful.
Barrie and Sudbury are scheduled to meet two more times before the end of the regular season. The Wolves are at Sadlon Arena on March 16 and then host Barrie on March 22nd.
Banner image: Terry Wilson/OHL Images
