Patrick King

Patrice Cormier may have played his last game in the Canadian Hockey League.

Will Patrice Cormier's star power save him from a lengthy suspension?

The junior hockey world was thrust back into the spotlight but for all the wrong reasons.

The brutality of the sport is at the forefront after Patrice Cormier of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies put a player in hospital Sunday afternoon. Cormier, who was playing in just his third game with his new team, delivered a vicious elbow to the head of Québec's Mikael Tam at center ice. Tam had just skated up ice with the puck and dumped it into the Huskies' zone seconds before receiving the elbow.

Tam convulsed on the ice and was taken to hospital in Rouyn-Noranda. He showed signs of improvement overnight and could be released from hospital as early as Tuesday.

The incident is similar to the infamous hit from the Ontario Hockey League early this season. Erie Otters forward Mike Liambas was suspended for the balance of the season and playoffs after his hit on Kitchener Rangers rookie defenceman Ben Fanelli. Fanelli suffered skull and facial fractures as a result of the hit.

Patrick Roy, the head coach and general manager of the Québec Remparts, told the Québec newspaper, Le Soleil, that he hopes the Québec Major Junior Hockey League hands Cormier a lifetime suspension. Roy also filed a police complaint following the game.

Since both incidents occurred in different leagues, the suspension will not be handled by the same braintrust. David Branch, the commissioner of the OHL and president of the Canadian Hockey League, will not be involved in Cormier's case. Branch was responsible for Liambas' ruling.

As one QMJHL general manager told sportsnet.ca on Monday morning, Cormier's suspension should not be any less severe than that handed to Liambas.

"I think the gesture of Cormier is more severe than what happened in the OHL," the GM said. "(It was more severe) because Mikael Tam of Québec lost the puck, he was in the middle of the ice, he had speed going, whereas in the OHL the defenceman turned at the last minute and he still had the puck. Tam didn't have the puck anymore."

Cormier, who was captain of Canada's world junior hockey championship team, is known as a competitive player who sometimes crosses the line. He elbowed Swedish forward Anton Rodin in the head after Rodin jumped off the bench to join the play in a pre-tournament game. Rodin did not have the puck, and Cormier's elbow went undetected.

As another coach in the QMJHL noted, that incident, as well as his reputation, won't do him any favours when the league determines his fate.

"I know he's an intense player, but I didn't really know (he was) that dirty," the coach said. "I think it's really dirty."

The main difference in determining the suspension will be how lenient the QMJHL will be in handing out a long suspension to one of its marquee players. Both Liambas and Cormier are physical and intense players, but only Cormier is a star player.

One can't help but wonder if the league will be more hesitant to hand out a similar suspension, considering the star appeal of the player.

"I think the league is responsible enough and professional to make a decision based on the hit, rather than the individual player who did it," the GM indicated.

Like Liambas, a season-long suspension would spell the end of Cormier's junior career. Liambas was an overage player playing in his final junior season, while Cormier has another year of junior eligibility but is unlikely to continue his junior career as an overage forward next season.

Cormier was taken in the second round of the 2008 National Hockey League draft by the New Jersey Devils and twice suited up for Canada's world junior team.

Suspending a player of his stature for the rest of the season could bring some backlash, but as a GM noted, Tam's health should be most important in the ruling.

"I think the suspension should be extremely severe because you can finish a player's career and maybe give the individual repercussions for the rest of his life," the GM said. "For me, it's a gesture that really has no place and has to be punished very, very severely."

Similarly, the OHL is also currently investigating a head hit from Windsor Spitfires forward Zack Kassian. The physical forward launched himself at Barrie forward Matt Kennedy at center ice last Thursday, giving Kennedy a concussion, and Kassian was suspended indefinitely.

A ruling on Kassian's hit should be determined early this week.

"They don't realize how much damage they can inflict," an OHL coach said. "I don't know if that's part of the problem. I don't think these kids are bad kids; I just don't think they realize how much damage they can inflict on people and how strong and how powerful they are."

Although Liambas' and Cormier's suspensions will not be handled by the same league, it's hard to argue that the QMJHL should not suspend Cormier for the rest of the year.

Liambas' suspension set a precedent, and Cormier's star appeal could be his only saving grace if he sees the ice again this season.