Is David Branch worse than Bettman?

[Big Phil]

In the NHL the game seems to lack some passion - although in recent weeks we've seen a reverse of that. But in the OHL I've gone to a ton of games this year and is it just me or has the passion in the game just gotten the life sucked out of it? With the new rule eliminating head shots - including a shoulder check to the head even if the guy has his head down - there has never been such less hitting in the OHL ever. Branch was in Kitchener in a pre game ceremony honouring Paul Coffey. When he stepped on the ice he was booed loudly. Bettman and Co. seem to find ways to keep the intensity out of the gmae but Branch I think is worse! Anyone agree?

[whitesox_2000_22]

Well i was recently at a game in Kitchener and watched Jaukb kindel Elbow Robbie Drummond in the head and knock him out and he gets a 5 min major and a game misconduct. Yet branch does not suspend Kindl for the hit and they say they are trying to eliminate head shots? I guess Kindl is lucky his coach is sucking Branch's dick. BTW Drummond has been concussed since the incident and has not played.

[norrisnick]

Originally Posted by whitesox_2000_22

Well i was recently at a game in Kitchener and watched Jaukb kindel Elbow Robbie Drummond in the head and knock him out and he gets a 5 min major and a game misconduct. Yet branch does not suspend Kindl for the hit and they say they are trying to eliminate head shots? I guess Kindl is lucky his coach is sucking Branch's dick. BTW Drummond has been concussed since the incident and has not played.

Looks like the Knights tried, but failed, to take matters in their own hands.
http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/s...?game_id=12941

1 - KIT Henderson, 2:49 - Hooking , 2 min (PP)
1 - KIT Kindl, 6:48 - Roughing , 2 min
1 - KIT Kindl, 6:48 - Roughing , 2 min
1 - LDN Beaulieu, 6:48 - Instigator , 2 min (PP)
1 - LDN Beaulieu, 6:48 - Fighting , 5 min (PP)
1 - LDN Beaulieu, 6:48 - 10-Minute Misconduct , 0 min
1 - LDN Beaulieu, 6:48 - Game Misconduct , 0 min
1 - LDN Foreman, 6:48 - Interference , 2 min
1 - LDN Foreman, 6:48 - 10-Minute Misconduct , 0 min
1 - LDN Montgomery, 6:48 - Hooking , 2 min
1 - KIT Martello, 9:19 - Roughing , 2 min
1 - LDN Martinelli, 9:19 - Roughing , 2 min
1 - LDN Perry, 10:59 - Kneeing , 5 min (PP)
1 - LDN Perry, 10:59 - Game Misconduct , 0 min
1 - LDN Perry, 13:14 - Cross Checking , 2 min (PP)
1 - KIT Weber, 15:08 - Cross Checking , 2 min (PP)
1 - KIT Soso, 18:31 - Fighting , 5 min
1 - LDN Jarram, 18:31 - Instigator , 2 min (PP)
1 - LDN Jarram, 18:31 - Fighting , 5 min
1 - LDN Jarram, 18:31 - 10-Minute Misconduct , 0 min
1 - LDN Jarram, 18:31 - Game Misconduct , 0 min
2 - KIT Spaling, 2:18 - Interference , 2 min (PP)
2 - KIT Bortuzzo, 3:18 - Tripping , 2 min (PP)
2 - KIT Henderson, 5:15 - Tripping , 2 min (PP)
2 - KIT Weber, 7:07 - Roughing , 2 min
2 - LDN Foreman, 7:07 - Diving , 2 min
2 - LDN Foreman, 7:07 - 10-Minute Misconduct , 0 min
2 - LDN Aarssen, 10:41 - Interference , 2 min (PP)
2 - LDN Kane, 12:27 - Tripping , 2 min (PP)
2 - LDN Shine, 17:14 - Charging , 2 min (PP)
3 - KIT Kindl, 0:00 - Elbowing , 2 min
3 - KIT Bortuzzo, 0:12 - Hooking , 2 min (PP)
3 - LDN Shine, 4:35 - Charging , 2 min (PP)
3 - KIT Soso, 6:41 - Fighting , 5 min
3 - LDN Shine, 6:41 - Fighting , 5 min
3 - KIT Kelly, 8:10 - Hooking , 2 min (PP)
3 - KIT Kindl, 9:16 - Slashing , 2 min (PP)
3 - KIT Murray, 9:18 - Unsportsmanlike Cnd. , 2 min (PP)
3 - LDN Foreman, 10:33 - Inter. on Goaltender , 2 min (PP)
3 - KIT Duco, 12:23 - High Sticking , 2 min (PP)
3 - KIT Tsimikalis, 12:23 - 10-Minute Misconduct , 0 min
3 - LDN Kostitsyn, 12:23 - 10-Minute Misconduct , 0 min
3 - KIT Duco, 14:28 - 10-Minute Misconduct , 0 min
3 - LDN Kane, 14:28 - 10-Minute Misconduct , 0 min
3 - KIT Kindl, 14:37 - Elbowing , 2 min
3 - KIT Kindl, 14:37 - Fighting , 5 min
3 - LDN Foreman, 14:37 - Instigator , 2 min
3 - LDN Foreman, 14:37 - Fighting , 5 min
3 - LDN Foreman, 14:37 - 10-Minute Misconduct , 0 min
3 - LDN Martinelli, 15:05 - Tripping , 2 min (PP)
3 - LDN Martinelli, 15:05 - 10-Minute Misconduct , 0 min
3 - KIT Tarasuk, 18:37 - Roughing , 2 min (PP)
3 - KIT Gyenes, 19:06 - Roughing , 2 min (PP)
3 - LDN Shine, 19:38 - Slashing , 2 min (PP)
3 - LDN Shine, 19:38 - 10-Minute Misconduct , 0 min

[whitesox_2000_22]

yeah pretty much, just a brutal game it was...thats what happens when you got Deboer on one side and Hunter on the other....usually ends up pretty one sided in the suspension list...Deboer was calling the Ref a ****ing retard and imcompetent, could hear it from my seat. And all Hunter has to do is shrug his shoulders and he is getting 2 game suspensions?

[Charlie_Girl]

Originally Posted by whitesox_2000_22

Well i was recently at a game in Kitchener and watched Jaukb kindel Elbow Robbie Drummond in the head and knock him out and he gets a 5 min major and a game misconduct. Yet branch does not suspend Kindl for the hit and they say they are trying to eliminate head shots? I guess Kindl is lucky his coach is sucking Branch's dick. BTW Drummond has been concussed since the incident and has not played.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this. That same game, did you happen to see Kostitsyn hit Downie in the head? It was what would have been a legal hit in prior years, but when Downie's visor is laying on the ice, it's pretty hard to argue that his head wasn't hit. Did Kostitsyn even receive a penalty? No. Could it have been called? I believe so. Head checking penalties seem to be called when they shouldn't or uncalled when they should be, more than any other penalty call.

I'm sorry that Drummond is still out - I don't like to see any player injured.

We'll see if any suspensions come out of that joke of a game last night. I won't be the least bit surprised if there aren't any. Branch is inconsistent at best.

It's unfortunate that London decided against playing hockey last night -- games between these two teams are generally 'edge of your seat' deals and the fans who paid to see the game were ripped off last night.

To respond to the initial comment: It depends on the game you're watching and the teams involved, and then who is reffing the game. There are some refs who will call every hit, clean or not, which leads to a whole lot less hitting. The head-checking penalty is probably the biggest issue leading to no hitting. I like the reasoning behind the rule, but it's almost impossible to enforce properly. If a player is 6'3" and he hits a smaller player, the hit was likely intended to be to the shoulder, but it ends up being a hit to the head. There are still teams who play a physical game, and I don't expect that to change.

[Lime]

Originally Posted by Charlie_Girl

We'll have to agree to disagree on this. That same game, did you happen to see Kostitsyn hit Downie in the head? It was what would have been a legal hit in prior years, but when Downie's visor is laying on the ice, it's pretty hard to argue that his head wasn't hit. Did Kostitsyn even receive a penalty? No. Could it have been called? I believe so. Head checking penalties seem to be called when they shouldn't or uncalled when they should be, more than any other penalty call.

It's not the traditional "head shot" if the feet are kept to the ice and elbow isn't used. The only thing wrong with Kostitsyn's hit was the fact he was an illegal man. The hit itself was perfectly clean.

[Charlie_Girl]

Originally Posted by Lime

It's not the traditional "head shot" if the feet are kept to the ice and elbow isn't used. The only thing wrong with Kostitsyn's hit was the fact he was an illegal man. The hit itself was perfectly clean.

I think we've all seen penalties called checking to the head on similar hits - right or wrong. Sorry, that's what I was getting at - they're called or miscalled more often than not. It was a hit to the head... just not an intentional hit to the head.

[whitesox_2000_22]

Originally Posted by Charlie_Girl

I think we've all seen penalties called checking to the head on similar hits - right or wrong. Sorry, that's what I was getting at - they're called or miscalled more often than not. It was a hit to the head... just not an intentional hit to the head.

of course i am not going to argue that is was not a hit to the head on Sergei, but as u have just mentioned it was not an "intentional" hit to the head, where as Kindl jumped off the ice and threw the elbow right to the nose....should these instinces not be treated differently?

But either was i was so excited for last nights game but i think i ended up falling asleep during the 2nd period..but congrats to kitchener for sticking to thew task at hand!

[Angels for Everyone]

Originally Posted by whitesox_2000_22

where as Kindl jumped off the ice and threw the elbow right to the nose....

oh come on..

kindl never left his feet and it wasn't an elbow...it was maybe a forearm but Drummond was leaning down anyway

[OHLArenaGuide]

Ahem... original question.

Absolutely not. Under Bettman's stewardship the NHL has gone from a spot poised to take over the sporting world with a sweetheart champion in the world's media capital and a new TV deal to a game that gets made fun of in the US media all the time when it's mentioned at all and is broadcast on the Food Network.

Under Branch's stewardship the OHL has gone from a tiny league that few cared about to a huge business that's on national TV and that has people like us really, really caring about it. When Branch took over a crowd of 1500 people was respectable, now it'll get your team relocated.

[whitesox_2000_22]

Originally Posted by OHLArenaGuide

Ahem... original question.

Absolutely not. Under Bettman's stewardship the NHL has gone from a spot poised to take over the sporting world with a sweetheart champion in the world's media capital and a new TV deal to a game that gets made fun of in the US media all the time when it's mentioned at all and is broadcast on the Food Network.

Under Branch's stewardship the OHL has gone from a tiny league that few cared about to a huge business that's on national TV and that has people like us really, really caring about it. When Branch took over a crowd of 1500 people was respectable, now it'll get your team relocated.

even when London had the London Nationals comepting in major junior A at the London gardens back in the 70's they were getting more then 1500 haha even when they won 4 games they were still getting 3 grand a game...so Branch has not done that much for anything around here.

[OHLArenaGuide]

Originally Posted by whitesox_2000_22

even when London had the London Nationals comepting in major junior A at the London gardens back in the 70's they were getting more then 1500 haha even when they won 4 games they were still getting 3 grand a game...so Branch has not done that much for anything around here.

I know that, but the Knights have always been above league average for attendance (something which quite a few people need to be reminded of from time to time).

Branch has done a phenomenal job of promoting and increasing the visibility and profitability of the OHL, whereas Bettman has done the complete opposite in the NHL. That's why Branch > Bettman any day of the week.

[Charlie_Girl]

Originally Posted by OHLArenaGuide

Branch has done a phenomenal job of promoting and increasing the visibility and profitability of the OHL, whereas Bettman has done the complete opposite in the NHL. That's why Branch > Bettman any day of the week.

Well said OHLAG. In terms of promoting the league, Branch and Co. have done a terrific job.

Oh, and Big Phil... Kitchener fans weren't booing, they were calling Branch "Lou" -- just ask Paul Coffey!

(for anyone not there... Branch was greeted with a combination of cheers and boos. Coffey said he didn't realize that Branch's middle name was Lou.)

[Lime]

Originally Posted by Charlie_Girl

I think we've all seen penalties called checking to the head on similar hits - right or wrong. Sorry, that's what I was getting at - they're called or miscalled more often than not. It was a hit to the head... just not an intentional hit to the head.

You can gear up to hit an opposing player, with the knowledge that you'll make contact with his head, and it can still very well be a clean hit. Again, the simple criteria is for the feet to be on the ice and the elbow tight to the side at the point of contact.

[Big Phil]

Originally Posted by Charlie_Girl

Oh, and Big Phil... Kitchener fans weren't booing, they were calling Branch "Lou" -- just ask Paul Coffey!

(for anyone not there... Branch was greeted with a combination of cheers and boos. Coffey said he didn't realize that Branch's middle name was Lou.)

Combination? Not from where I was standing. It sounded like he got about as many boos as Bettman would when he introduces the draft every year.

From a business standpoint I'm not saying Branch hasnt suceeded. I mean the on-ice product. Personally I saw the Downie hit and the Kindl hit. Neither one should have been a penalty. A hit with a shoulder is different. My God, it'll be to the point - and it almost is - where a guy wont take the body and let a guy walk around him just not to get a penalty. In the OHL Scott Stevens hit on Lindros would be illegal. To me, that's just not right, it isnt true hockey

[Charlie_Girl]

Originally Posted by Big Phil

Combination? Not from where I was standing. It sounded like he got about as many boos as Bettman would when he introduces the draft every year.

Yeah, you're right. I think it's the same in every building (maybe not quite to the same extent, but he has to be used to being booed) -- he's the guy who hands down suspensions and fines, so he's not going to be a popular guy to most fans.

[Alpine]

Okay, to defend Mr. Branch as CHL head and the commisioners of the Q and the DUB.
This will be the 18th straight year of increased attendance in the CHL. The CHL is now in all 10 provinces reaching 72% of the Canadian population. It will draw almost 10 million paying customers and has a national TV deal with both French and English broadcasters. The CHL is the biggest sports-entertainment property in Canada even surpassing the NHL in Canada.
The CHL is the largest developer of pro players and now with scholarship money becomimg greater also the largest developer of CIS players.
Is it perfect, no. Is the CHL better off than when Mr. Branch took over, yes.

[CapGoodie]

Originally Posted by Alpine

Okay, to defend Mr. Branch as CHL head and the commisioners of the Q and the DUB.
This will be the 18th straight year of increased attendance in the CHL. The CHL is now in all 10 provinces reaching 72% of the Canadian population. It will draw almost 10 million paying customers and has a national TV deal with both French and English broadcasters. The CHL is the biggest sports-entertainment property in Canada even surpassing the NHL in Canada.
The CHL is the largest developer of pro players and now with scholarship money becomimg greater also the largest developer of CIS players.
Is it perfect, no. Is the CHL better off than when Mr. Branch took over, yes.

Not so sure he can take credit for much of that. He's been at the head of a rising ship for a long time, and one can easily argue it's been major investment from individual franchises that has driven the success of this league in spite of Branch. Teams really started investing in arenas and made serious localized efforts to increase the exposure of their teams in television and radio, and much of that has not been done with the aid or support of the CHL. I'm thinking about markets like Halifax, which was met with a fair amount needless hurdles just to get underway but spread the game from coast to coast and helped pioneer a bit of a CHL revolution in the way their franchise was covered on television and in the local media in general.

So he's steering a ship with unstoppable upward success but still manages to pull ofF situations where Melnyk owns two OHL teams and one still doesn't have a home for next year. In a league this successful and in such demand that was one of the dumbest things I could imagine a commissioner allowing to happen.

Then there has also been the resistance by his office to deal with behavioral problems. Kids taken out of the home at 16-years-old aren't going to always behave like mature adults. We see things like this girl being ***** or assualted by 5 Saginaw players and the comments from the league are predictably non-existent.

How many more hazing incidents are needed too? Branch says the CHL doesn't codone it but they know full well it continues to go on in every franchise yet he'll publicly only make the "isolated incident we don't condone" comment if a particualr incident comes to light. I fully expect he'll make the "isolated incident" comment when the Saginaw things wraps up but won't bother instituting league wide training, education etc for these kids before they go out do something stupid - like the success of the league he'll just leave that up to the individual franchises. To do that at the league level would be admitting their were problems with his glorious golden cash cow.

How about use of Sudafed (and other such tricks) among junior players the past 10-15 years? He said it was a non-issue, I say I know he's full of B.S, he himself knows he's full of B.S saying that. The problem is on the decline now but his resitance to drug policies helped allow that abuse to continue and flourish.

How about the trade deadline and student education. Many feel trading at the junior level is too hard on the kids, so in his brilliance he moves up the deadline and it only forces more trades. Here's the kicker....in the Ontario school system most of these kids were about to write their final exams in January (the ones that pretty much make or break a student for University acceptance) and now their getting traded right in the middle of it. Brilliant Mr. Branch.


Safe to say I'm not going to give credit for the succes of the CHL to Mr.Branch. The success of the CHL is in spite of Mr.Branch, and the due credit for that successs falls squarely on what indivual owners/franchises have done for the league - Like the Hunter's in London (and the city of London itself for getting that arena built and everything else).

[Tinalera]

Originally Posted by OHLArenaGuide

I know that, but the Knights have always been above league average for attendance (something which quite a few people need to be reminded of from time to time).

Branch has done a phenomenal job of promoting and increasing the visibility and profitability of the OHL, whereas Bettman has done the complete opposite in the NHL. That's why Branch > Bettman any day of the week.

London's like a sellout every game isn't it? We get fans who come down to watch them play Sarnia who say that's the only way they can watch them, because the builiding is sold out for home games. The combination of Sarnia and London fans generally come close to selling out the SSEC every time they play(which is why I'm sure the managment at the SSEC are quietly hoping for a London first round against Sarnia)

[whitesox_2000_22]

Branch cant even hand out suspensions right...it is going on a week now since Beaulieu and Jarram were suspended indefintly, yet there is still not a number of games their suspension will be for yet? This was on Thursday and friday night Simon swang like a gorilla and was suspended indefintly. By saturday night Simon was handed down his suspension so this is exactly one day later. Branch is working on a week..pretty ridiculous if u ask me??

[Charlie_Girl]

Historically, the OHL has been slow to hand down suspensions. They can take until the Knights play next to release the information.

[whitesox_2000_22]

Originally Posted by Charlie_Girl

Historically, the OHL has been slow to hand down suspensions. They can take until the Knights play next to release the information.

well this incident happened on thursday night, and the Knights played on Saturday night and SUnday Night...so two games have passed...so that theory cant be correct.

[Charlie_Girl]

Originally Posted by whitesox_2000_22

well this incident happened on thursday night, and the Knights played on Saturday night and SUnday Night...so two games have passed...so that theory cant be correct.

That's why Beaulieu and Jarram were suspended immediately. I think Foreman should have been in that group as well, but he was allowed to play last weekend. There's no way the league was going to hand down suspensions in a day - they wouldn't have had time to review everything that happened.

I would think a week is plenty long enough to come to a decision though. I agree that this is bordering on ridiculous.

[whitesox_2000_22]

Originally Posted by Charlie_Girl

That's why Beaulieu and Jarram were suspended immediately. I think Foreman should have been in that group as well, but he was allowed to play last weekend. There's no way the league was going to hand down suspensions in a day - they wouldn't have had time to review everything that happened.

I would think a week is plenty long enough to come to a decision though. I agree that this is bordering on ridiculous.

I agree that Foreman should be in the whole thing to...he is the one who started the whole situation essentially...dont know how that slipped by there radar. Especially since he is a repeat repeat offender!

[lindrosfan88]

As we have seen this week, yes.