Predators and Cougars need to adapt to new rules to survie
Press Release: September 6, 2007
By: Vince Versace

The Ontario Hockey Association has instructed its officials to call the rule book in order to speed up the game and local Junior A coaches are in support of the change.

"The OHA for the longest time has been the last bastion of the wild west type of hockey," says Bart Crashley, Predators head coach. "It will be tough to get used to but we all have to and I support it. We will get our Predators to embrace it."

OHA officials have been instructed to enforce rules that restrict clutching and grabbing with a crack down on interference, hooking and holding. At the beginning of Port Hope's recent exhibition game, on Sunday, Aug. 27 against the Bancroft Hawks, a Predator received a penalty under this new wave of rule enforcement.

"The player put his arms up in the air and smiled," says Crashley. "I reamed him out and the bench. These are the new rules and they will have to get used to it."

During the Cobourg Cougars recent exhibition game against the Pickering Panthers, game official Paul Renaud cracked down hard, enforcing all the new rules. Cougars' head coach Bill Brady says the officiating that night was just the tip of the iceberg as to how far the league will go to curtail clutching and grabbing.

"I think this was just the start," says Brady. "I am sure we're going to see a lot more called. He was pretty lenient tonight. They're going to be calling it pretty tight. The onus is on the players to eliminate the use of the stick."

Crashley thinks the OHA has been similar to the "wild west" for so long because it has had older players which may not be moving up to other levels of hockey. He says players need to understand there is plenty of hockey to be played beyond the OHA at universities and semi-professional leagues and they should never stop developing.

"Players need to look at our league as a prep league for playing hockey elsewhere. They need to smarten up and embrace things like these new rules and jump in with both feet," says Crashley.

Both coaches have been using their team scrimmages during training camp to have the players play under the new rule enforcement. The Cougars last year won only six games and to remain competitive against older and more skilled teams they needed to rely on tactics like clutching and holding, says Coach Brady.

"We had to grab and do whatever we could to survive. Our team is older now but it will be trial and error," says Brady. "We need to be patient because these are not new rules, they are just enforcing the rules.