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OHL: Time to vote for Mike Vellucci’s greatest ejection (poll)
Plymouth Whalers coach-GM Mike Vellucci is one of the best in the business at molding competitive hockey teams season after season — but when he gets ejected from a game, he does it big time.
It is no laughing matter for the Whalers that their coach received a five-game suspension for mimicking the universal "you ... are ... outta ... here!" gesture during a heated Whalers-Windsor Spitfires game on Feb. 4. At the same time, it's not actually unheard of for the long-time coach, who can work a crowd as well as anyone playing a big stage in Las Vegas.
It is not a drawback, it's a virtue. Who wants to see three coaches standing robotically behind the bench as seems to be the case in almost every other rink in North America? Vellucci's willingness to pour his heart into riding a referee reflecgts a coach who is comfortable in his own skin; as does the fact Vellucci has sported dyed-pink hair during the Whalers' annual breast cancer research fundraising initiative. In a bid to capture the spirit of the thing, it's time to vote for what's been the greatest Mike Vellucci exit of the past few seasons.
Below the jump, for your consideration, the candidates:
Jan. 23, 2009: Tie-less tirade in Brampton
The context: After the Whalers had a goal disallowed that would have pulled them within a goal of a powerhouse Brampton team that featured current NHLers Matt Duchene and Cody Hodgson, Vellucci protested the officials' refusal to do a video review by refusing to send his players to the faceoff circle. After a delay-of-game penalty was assessed, well, that's where the fun started. The Whalers ended up rallying to salvage a point out of the contest, too.
Jan. 6, 2010: Walk of shame in Niagara
The context: The coach became irate after then-Whalers defenceman Jay Gilbert got what Sunaya Sapurji described as a "shady" hooking penalty during a tie-up with the Niagara IceDogs' Andrew Agozzino that ought to have resulted in coincidental minors. Vellucci kept his tie on, but alternately gave referee Mike Bolibruck the business while also barking at the IceDogs' bench. Since the IceDogs play in the oldest arena in the OHL, he had to head for the dressing room via the ice, giving the rinkside peanut gallery no end of opportunities to get in their shots.
Feb. 4, 2012: Telling the referee, 'You're outta here!'
The context: Emotions boiled over with 49 seconds left in the Whalers' one-sided 5-1 win over a frustrated Windsor Spitfires team. Spitfires goalie John Cullen, who seemed to be itching to fight, clocked Whalers forward Garrett Meurs with what Plymouth Observer & Eccentric hockey scribe Tim Smith called a "wheelhouse punch." Obviously irate at how the game had degenerated into a bigger gong show than the 1962 Faber College homecoming parade, Vellucci called referee Matthew Traub over to the bench and tried to throw him out of the game.
Did that remind anyone else of an early Family Guy episode? Not that junior hockey coaches would ever absorb that show by osmosis because their teen players watch the DVDs on the bus.
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet (videos: Brampton Battalion, TV Cogeco, FOX).
