The Greyhounds and Battalion's game on Nov. 30 had a firey finish, which saw one of their star players ejected from the game, followed by an outburst by Sault Ste. Marie Head Coach John Dean

The North Bay Battalion and Soo Greyhounds were tied 2-2 with less than a minute left in their game this past Saturday, Nov. 30. 

Battalion forward Nolan Laird corraled the puck in the corner of his own zone and proceeded to wheel around his net looking to push play up the ice. Greyhounds forward and a top prospect for the upcoming 2025 NHL Entry Draft, Brady Martin, is in hot pursuit coming across the ice to close the gap on Laird. 

Laird passes the puck up to his teammate but is met with a big-time heavy hit from Martin, knocking him off balance and throwing him into the boards back first. It was a heavy collision that shook the GFL Memorial Gardens, and play was halted for the injured North Bay player. 

No penalty was originally called on the play. The whistle went because of an injured player. However, while Laird was being attended to and eventually helped off the ice, the referees met at the scorer's table and reviewed the play. 

Upon further review, Brady Martin was given a five-minute major penalty for interference and ejected from the game. North Bay scored just 12 seconds into their powerplay to win the game 3-2.

It's a very debatable hit. Martin is just finishing his check as he always does. Maybe it was a tad bit on the late side and worthy of a two-minute interference penalty. But a game misconduct was a very interesting decision. 

The hit in question can be viewed in the video below.

The OHL ultimately concurred with the referee's call on the play and subsequently suspended Martin for three games for his "late" hit. 

It seems that the decision to call the penalty and suspend the player partly reflects the fact that the player who received the hit was injured on the play. 

This was a game-changing decision by the referees, who, btw weren't official referees of the OHL. Joshua Houslander and Alex Schmidt are listed as linespersons on the CHL website and are local referees who officiate games in the NOJHL. 

“I am confused because flights are going in and out of Toronto and the Sault, and we have two NOJHL referees doing our game. I am not sure why we did not have OHL referees here," said Greyhounds Head Coach John Dean after the game. 

When Dean found out that his star centerman was thrown out of the game, he was visibly irate and livid at the call. He let the referees know what he thought about their decision to throw Martin out of the game. Needless to say, his yelling said it all on what he thought. 

“It was a horrible call,” Dean said after the game. “It was a clean hit by Martin, and I am proud of him for finishing his hits. He plays a hard-nosed game. It was a poor call.”

As mentioned earlier, there was no penalty called on the penalty, which had Dean confused as to why they were reviewing the play. 

“I asked what they were reviewing, and they didn’t know what they were reviewing, they just thought they should review something because a guy was on the ice, and the other team made a fuss,” Dean said. “And when I asked, they couldn’t give me an answer.”

After North Bay scored the go-ahead goal, Dean, still fuming and enraged at the referees' decision, received a bench minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and a game misconduct for his verbal and non-verbal actions.

“I clapped and they didn’t like my clap, and I had some choice words after they gave me the two minutes,” Dean said regarding what got him tossed from the game. 

The OHL has taken action against the Greyhounds' sheriff behind the bench and suspended him for two games and a $1,000 fine as a result of his actions and inappropriate comments that are detrimental to the welfare of the league. 

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