OHL suspends Flint Firebirds owner Rolf Nilsen, strip away third overall pick

The Ontario Hockey League has come down hard against Flint Firebirds owner Rolf Nilsen.

Following the conclusion of an investigation, OHL commissioner David Branch has suspended Nilsen from “being involved directly or indirectly with hockey operations of the Flint Firebirds for five years effective immediately.” Additionally, Nilsen has been fined $250,000.

Nilsen will be eligible to file for reinstatement after three years.

The Firebirds, who held both the third and fifth overall selections for this weekend’s OHL Priority Selection have been forced to forfeit the third pick.

Nilsen fired his coaching staff on two separate occasions, prompting the league to take over control of the team's hockey operations in February.

In his statement on Wednesday, Branch said if Nilsen is found to have violated the terms of his suspension, he could be forced to sell 100 per cent of his ownership stake in the OHL franchise.

During Nilsen’s suspension, the Flint Firebirds will remain under the stewardship, supervision and direction of the commissioner.

Joe Birch, who has led the Flint Firebirds hockey operations since February will remain in his role. A GM, head coach, and additional hockey operations staff will be appointed in the near future, Branch said.

Terry Christensen will oversee the club through this weekend’s draft. Joe Stefan is currently Flint’s interim head coach and assistant GM.

Several agents had made it clear to the Firebirds ahead of this weekend’s draft that they didn’t want their clients being selected by Flint with Nilsen still involved with the club.

“The league is either going to decide to operate (the team) indefinitely, which I don’t think that they can,” one agent said. “That will create problems with the owners. Or they need to bring in the proper people or the owner does to run the organization in a professional way.

“If that’s not happening, we can’t put our clients at risk in a situation like that. Until that changes, that one team out of the 20 in the league is a franchise that everybody will likely try to steer clear of.”

The Firebirds finished the 2015-16 season ninth in the Western Conference with a 20-42-6 record.