OHL suspends London’s Matt Rupert 15 games for head hit

The London Knights will be without the services of Matt Rupert for the next month after the forward was handed a 15 game suspension for a head hit on Barrie's Kevin Labanc. The suspension was confirmed on Friday morning by OHL commissioner David Branch.

"There's an example of a blow to the head and we all agree we've got to get that out of our game," said Branch, who was attending a Hockey Canada press conference in Toronto.

Labanc, a first year forward, was injured on the play and has not skated for the Colts since the Nov. 8, incident at London's Budweiser Gardens. Video shows Labanc releasing the puck in the London zone before Rupert extends his elbow catching the Colts winger in the chin.

Branch said he had a telephone hearing with Rupert, who is a repeat offender, on Wednesday. The 19-year-old had previously earned a 10-game charging suspension for a hit on Saginaw Spirit defenceman Steven Strong last season.

At the press conference on Friday, Hockey Canada announced a new "Hockey Violence Sanctions Committee" to review and recommend sanctions in minor hockey. Branch was lauded for his work in the OHL where suspensions for hits to the head were particularly heavy.

"We've got to condition our players where, 'Hey, you've got to make the right decisions more often than not,'" said Branch. "I think education is key ... I've been preaching, I don't know why we use the word concussion? I think we should use the word brain injuries. All the word concussion does is hide a very serious issue -- and it is what it is -- so we've got to educate more and more."