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Canucks prospect Cole Cassels throws crushing check of the year in OHL (VIDEO)
Just put the fact Cole Cassels got a penalty for checking too hard under the heading 'details.'
The Vancouver Canucks signing plays with an edge that makes him "a kind of player you don’t find too often anymore," and on Sunday, the Oshawa Generals centre threw an old-school devasting check on the Peterborough Petes' Matt Spencer. During the second period, Cassels flattened Spencer full force, shoulder to chest. While a penalty was called for charging, by no means was it borderline or predatory, either. In real time, the impact looked so thorough that calling a penalty was an understandable instinctive reaction.
The final judgement belongs to Spencer. The second-year defenceman, at least according to Cassels, told his foe, "Good hit" when they passed within earshot of each other later in the game.
The play belies the notion that the OHL's strict supplemental discipline is leading to softer hockey. Cassels had a 10-game head-checking suspension earlier this season, but the 19-year-old son of former NHL forward Andrew Cassels absorbed the lesson ("there is a line between playing on the edge and … just not a smart play and an unlucky position") and has continued playing on the edge. It could serve him well in the NHL, in due time.
On the season, Cassels has 26 goals and 73 points across 48 games for the Generals.
(Stick taps: Mark Edwards, Dan Malta.)
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.
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