Isles prospect Halmo suspended

Per TSN (and a tweet from @KatieStrangNHL)

<Owen Sound Attack forward Mike Halmo has been suspended indefinitely for his hit on Sarnia Sting forward Nail Yakupov, according to reports.>

Various reports are indicating that Yakupov, potentially the 1st overall draft choice in June, will miss Sarnia's final three regular season games, with his playoff availability remaining a question.

There has been a lot of debate North of the Border as to the cleanliness of the hit.  Dave Pollard has a story in the London Free Press entitled "Don't Punish Halmo for Clean Hit".  He described the play this way:

"Yakupov lost control of the puck as he was cruising through the slot in the Owen Sound zone and was trying to corral it when Halmo drilled him head-on. Halmo, the OHL's poster boy for the perfect blend of talent and truculence — he's eighth in league scoring (40 goals, 44 assists) and fourth in PIMs (162) — laid Yakupov out with what I thought was a solid shoulder hit but he was given a major penalty for charging ... and forced to fight Sting defenceman Jack Kuzmyk."

Pollard's complete story is here:  http://www.lfpress.com/sports/hockey/2012/03/12/19493116.html

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick