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Spirit confirm Trafford had been suspended for violating rules

Sunaya Sapurji

As the search for missing Saginaw Spirit forward Terry Trafford continues, more details regarding his status with the OHL team are coming to light.

On Monday, Trafford's girlfriend, Skye Cieszlak, told Yahoo Sports that the 20-year-old Toronto native had been sent home by the team for disciplinary reasons. On Tuesday, Saginaw Spirit president Craig Goslin confirmed that Trafford had indeed been sent home for a "rule violation."

"He was sent home for a violation of rules," Craig Goslin said Tuesday, March 11.

Goslin did not elaborate about the violation but said Trafford was not necessarily cut from the team for good after the rule violation.

"That would have been up to Terry," Goslin said. "He'd have to change his behavior and make some adjustments.

"He was on the roster." (Saginaw News)

According to Cieszlak, Trafford was upset and told her that he believed his four-year junior career in Saginaw was over.

“When I spoke to him he was completely devastated because he told me that the Spirit sent him home for good and that they didn’t want him back on the team because he had gotten in trouble,” said Cieszlak. “That’s what Terry had told me.”

On Tuesday afternoon a tweet from WJRT-TV reporter Terry Camp said police had received information that Trafford "may have been seen in (the) Toronto area this past weekend."

However, Lt. Brian Cole of the Michigan State Police denied the report, calling it "bad information."

"We're still working on everything," Cole told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday. "I don't know where that report is coming from but that's not good information. State Police isn't reporting that - we're still investigating several leads."

Both Michigan State Police and police in Trafford's hometown of Toronto are looking into his whereabouts. He was last seen on March 3, at the Dow Event Center, the home rink for the Spirit.

At the time he was sent home from the team, Trafford was living with Goslin and his wife Karolyn in their Saginaw home.

"The reason that he was in with us was that he needed some mentoring," Goslin told reporter Jessica Shepherd. "We made sure we mentored the young man."