"We had failed with Dan and the other players": OHL League Commissioner denounces "disgusting" allegations of abuse

The Commissioner of the Ontario Hockey League said that his organization had dropped players under his responsibility.

David Branch says that he did not know how bad the hazing was for players like Daniel Carcillo. Carcillo and other players have made public this week charges of brutal hazing.

In an interview with CBC Sports, Branch called the claims "disgusting".

"We had failed with Dan and the other players involved in my opinion, and it's shocking.You know, I do not know how else to say it," Branch said.

Over the past few days, four members of the 2002-2003 Sting in Sarnia have come forward to tell their story.

"I left home at age 17 to pursue my dream of going to the NHL and doing something about myself, and what we and eleven of us had to endure this year was abuse. daily, "said Carcillo, who has won two Stanley Cup wins with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Carcillo explained that he had been naked in the bathroom of a bus and that his teammates had spit on him tobacco juice. He also said that players were undressed, tied up and beaten with a sawtooth keeper's stick.

Carcillo directly contacted Branch

Some of his teammates, including goaltender Ryan Munce, quickly came forward to corroborate Carcillo's allegations and tell their own stories.

"There are guys who acted like KKK [Ku Klux Klan] because I went out with a girl of different nationality and Hitler signed in front of our Jewish teammate until weeping, "recalls Munce.

"These are constant abuses, day after day, tie a guy to the table and hit him with belts and other objects, he was the" rookie of the day "."

Watch Daniel Carcillo detail the abuse suffered at age 17:

"This situation was that novice players were put in the team's laundry basket and pushed into the hallway and you know how to bounce imprudently on the walls and things like that. really the magnitude of what happened to me and to the discussion as I remember. "

Jeff Perry, Sarnia's head coach in 2002-03, initially challenged Carcillo's claims that management was aware of the abuse. However, Carcillo tweeted Thursday that Perry was part of the leadership who took responsibility.

A call to CBC Sports' Perry on Wednesday to ask for further comment was not returned.

According to Branch, a major change was made to the league with respect to mitigation in 2005. In that year, the league imposed a series of major fines and suspensions on the Windsor Spitfires for a series of incidents. mitigation.

"It was the first time and, frankly, the only time I was told about initiation, hazing, etc.," says Branch.

Nevertheless, he states that the league has put in place a series of initiatives, including a zero tolerance hazing policy.

"We had to support the players"

"We had to support the players, make sure they understood what's good, what's acceptable, what's not, and more importantly, I'd say, here's how you can reach out if you are not comfortable with your own coach or general manager, "says the branch.

Watch as the former Carcillo teammate echo abuse experiences:

"Thanks to my experience in the OHL, since I was 16 in 2006 until I became head coach in the league, they eliminated all those bad and bad things that surround the league. – in particular, And in the end, I think that OHL deserves congratulations and should not be left behind by a story that might be true but that happened a long time ago. "

Thursday night, the OHL issued a statement reiterating its commitment to the anti-hazing policy.

"In light of the recent attention to the issue of the bizuts, the league spoke to the team management and all our member teams provide a reminder to all staff and players on this extremely important topic, "the statement said. .

"Our hope is that through conversation, education and awareness, the attitudes that lead to hazing behavior and these unthinkable actions are disappearing from sport and society."

I hope the change has happened

A number of current NHL players have also reacted to Carcillo's comments, including striker Bo Horvat of the Vancouver Canucks.

"It's hard to hear that kind of stuff, but I think it's faded in my junior hockey era," Horvat said.

"I've heard a lot about it and I've heard about what guys have been going through in the last few years, but I think we really put down the situation when I started coming in junior." So I did not have anything like that, thank you God. "

"When you are singularly focused on one goal, what you will accept to try to achieve that goal is a bit scary," said Carcillo.

"And if you talk and if you talk too much in the hockey world and ask too many questions, they do not like that, they would like you to be a good little soldier and do what you want. they say."