The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League levied its longest suspension of the season, dishing out a 15-game ban to Baie-Comeau forward Jonathan Lessard for a knee-on-knee hit on Quebec forward Nick Sorensen.
The league found Lessard guilty of changing direction to purposely make contact with Sorensen below the waist, rather than make a check with his shoulder in open ice. As a repeat offender, the QMJHL threw the book at Lessard and tossed him for the most substantial suspension handed out in junior hockey this season.
Sorensen was helped off the ice by teammates following the hit on Friday, Oct. 28, and Le Soleil newspaper in Quebec City reported that he will need at least six months to rehabilitate and recover. Sorensen was in his first season with the Remparts, having been drafted 20th overall in last summer’s Canadian Hockey League import draft.
This was the sixth suspension in the CHL this season totaling 10 or more games, the first time in the QMJHL. It’s also the 29th time a player received a suspension in the QMJHL this season. By comparison, the Ontario Hockey League has levied just five suspensions this season, four of which were for 10 or more games. London’s Kyle Flemington also received a 15-game ban early in the season.
The only player to receive a suspension with double-digit games lost in the Western Hockey League was handed down to Prince George forward Charles Inglis, who received 10-games on Oct. 4 for checking to the head in a game against Victoria. The WHL has handed out the most suspensions, with 32 players sitting out at least one game so far this season.
