Why was Landon Sim suspended? Blues prospect served with disciplinary action following on-ice altercation with opponent

NHL: Preseason-St. Louis Blues at Dallas Stars
Why was Landon Sim suspended? Blues prospect served with disciplinary action

Landon Sim of ͏the Lond͏on Knights faces a five-game suspension͏ from the Ontari͏o Hockey Le͏ague. That's because of an on-ice incident during Gam͏e 5 of the Western Co͏nfer͏ence f͏inal against the S͏aginaw Sp͏irit on Wednesday.

Ad

The suspension stems from a series of events that began during the pr͏e-game w͏arm-up on May 3, when Sim allegedly made contact with a Spirit ͏forwa͏rd. Later in the game, a confrontation at a faceoff led to further escalation.

Sim's agent, Andrew Maloney, claims that a Spirit defenseman threatened to "break (Sim's) shoulder," a significant concern as Sim has a sprained shoulder. In response, Sim reportedly retorted:

"No you won’t; you’re too much of a p---y to do that."
Ad

The defenseman reported Landon Sim's comment to referee Joe Monette, who consulted with a linesman. Confirming the exchange, Monette issued Sim a game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Ad

The OHL subsequently imposed a five-game suspension on Landon Sim, citing violations of the league's diversity, maltreatment and bullying policy, as well as its pre-game warm-up policy. This disciplinary action has sparked debate over what constitutes offensive or bullying language and the severity of penalties, though.

Landon Sim's suspension was executed without a hearing, and under current OHL regulations, he has no recourse for appeal. Appeals are only considered for suspensions exceeding 10 games.

Ad

Attempts to appeal to higher authorities, including Hockey Canada and the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada were unsuccessful due to jurisdictional limitations. Consequently, Sim remains sidelined as his team competes in the finals.


Controversial suspension of Landon Sim highlights issues of fairness and masculine toxicity

Drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 2022, Landon Sim missed Game 6 of the Western Conference final due to his suspension. Despite his absence, the London Knights secured a win and advanced to the league final against the Oshawa Generals.

Ad

Sim is set to miss the first four games of the OHL final series, but the Knights seem unfazed by his absence. Leading the series 2-0, they have dominated the Generals with a staggering 17-2 goal difference heading into Game 3 on Monday night in Oshawa.

An anonymous OHL executive expressed surprise at the severity of the punishment, suggesting that it could set a contentious precedent:

“If they’re going to suspend a guy for that, they’d better get ready to give out 20 suspensions a game,” as reported by The Hockey News
Ad

The incident highlights broader issues of masculine toxicity in hockey. While Sim and his agent argued that the term was used to denote weakness, linguistic experts like Dr. Sheila Embleton noted the complex context of such slang. She described the suspension as follows:

“It seems a bit excessive,” as reported by The Hockey News.

She added:

“The link is that it came to mean ‘a weak or cowardly man’ because of the link to the female meaning. But you can’t pin the whole history and etymology of one word on one guy. Is it his fault that western civilization is a mess?”

T͏he OHL͏'s decision aligns with ͏Hockey Canada's stringe͏nt polici͏es͏ a͏gainst͏ maltreatment, ͏͏as repor͏ts͏ of dis͏c͏ri͏minatio͏n have r͏isen significantly. Ho͏w͏͏ever, the͏ handling of ͏Landon S͏im's suspensio͏n, which͏ ͏lac͏ked procedural͏ fairness an͏d an av͏en͏ue for appeal, h͏as͏ ͏been critic͏͏i͏zed.

Wayne Gretzky’s wife Janet responds to critics questioning his loyalty to Canada, Bobby Orr's support following 4 Nations drama

Quick Links

Edited by Bhargav
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
down arrow icon
More
bell-icon Manage notifications