The Colts were fined for "conduct detrimental to the public perception of the league"
The post-game press conference after their game seven Eastern Conference final victory from Barrie Colts head coach Dylan Smoskowitz and captain Kashawn Aitcheson sure caused a fair bit of dialogue on social media, but not much of it was positive.
After reportedly being upset at not being allowed to bring more players into the interviewing room, the two answered every question asked by both the press and OHL communications director Josh Sweetland with "no one cares, work harder," the team's motto that they've stuck with all season.
The league was clearly not thrilled with this gesture and the negative attention it sparked online, and have fined the Colts organization $15,000 for "conduct detrimental to the public perception of the league."
While some of the social media discourse on the incident has maybe gone a bit over the top, it's probably right to say this wasn't the best way to present yourselves after a monumental victory.
Emotions were high after Barrie battled back from down 3-1 in the East final against a loaded Brantford Bulldogs squad, and were able to take home the Bobby Orr Trophy on the road with a 5-0 shutout win in game seven.
To Smoskowitz's credit, he took responsibility for the incident, appearing on TSN's Overdrive show yesterday to apologize for the incident.
Hopefully now, with this out of the way, the focus can go back to what looks to be an enticing OHL championship series between Barrie and the Kitchener Rangers.
Game one begins tonight in Kitchener, with both teams looking to carry the momentum from their conference final victories for a chance to head to the Memorial Cup as J. Ross Robertson Cup champions.
Never want to miss out on any OHL news? Make sure to bookmark THN's OHL site.
Also follow @roryyarthur on X/Twitter for more updates.