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A junior hockey player was suspended for five games for referring to an opposing player as a Mennonite and therefore violating the league's rules on provocation.
20-year-old Landon Sim of the London Knights was issued the five-game suspension for "marginalizing" an opponent on both "religious and cultural grounds," the Ontario Hockey League found.
The OHL is in the Canadian Hockey League, which is comprised of several leagues across Canada (Western, Ontario, and Quebec) and is considered the top-tier of junior hockey in the world.
On November 6, Sim was ejected with a game misconduct for his violation during a 5-1 win against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
"He used the word 'Mennonite,'" Sim's agent, Andrew Maloney, said, according to the London Free Press. "He was insulted by a player on the other team, just regular back-and-forth banter. Landon used the word toward him. I think it was just something he said without knowledge behind it," the agent added.
Maloney also called Sim's remarks "wrong and inappropriate" as well as a teachable moment, among other platitudes.
The OHL commissioner told the London, Ontario, outlet that a player may not use certain language to provoke another player, citing a series of prohibited language that includes: "Race, age, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, marital status or disability."
"This is a violation of the league's code of conduct and it carries with it a minimum suspension of five games," OHL commissioner Bryan Crawford said.
Sim's agent did not argue for his client on a free speech basis but rather that there should be "layers" to the type of discipline a player receives depending on the language they use.
"A player called a kid a monkey and got the same number of games (as Sim). Last season, a player told a kid he should go kill himself and got the same amount of games. There has to be layers to this rule. It's not a bad rule, but when it's interpreted in a one-size-fits-all category, it doesn't work," Maloney attempted to explain.
Landon Sim was drafted in the 6th round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues.Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
This is actually Sim's second suspension related to mean words in 2024.
In May, Sim was suspended five games for calling then-Saginaw Spirit captain Braden Hache a word that allegedly implied he was "soft."
Former OHL commissioner David Branch said at the time the remark was "an inappropriate comment under our diversity program," despite the league being seemingly too fearful to identify what the word was.
In response, Sim's agent claimed at the time that "there is no due process in the league."
All OHL players and staff are reportedly subjected to mandatory diversity policy training before each season.
Sim was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and has eight points the first 10 games of the 2024-2025 OHL season.
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