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World junior championship: Canada’s JC Lipon faces IIHF review for headshot, Anthony Camara cleared (VIDEO)

Neate Sager

Canada is about to know the IIHF's Rules 522 and 540 very, very well.

Team Canada has to gird for the scenario of having another forward suspended for its all-important showdown vs. Team USA at the world junior championship on Sunday, after wings Anthony Camara and JC Lipon each received a major/game misconduct in Friday's 6-3 comeback win over Slovakia.

Please keep in mind the International Ice Hockey Federation's standard for what constitutes a headshot differs from even the strict standard of major junior hockey, never mind the NHL's. It is hard to imagine a scenario whereby Canada, which will still not have centre and faceoff man extraordinaire Boone Jenner against the Americans due to his suspension, will not get away scot-free. Team Canada coach Steve Spott alluded to the possibility of "sanctions" against his team during a post-game interview.

That refers more to Lipon, whose penalty falls under the head-shot rule. (Update: Lipon will have a hearing on Saturday.)

"The challenge for us is to continue to learn the standard over here and play the cards that we're dealt," Spott told TSN.

Camara appears to be in the clear.

Here's a look at each play.

First, Lipon, who plays for the WHL's Kamloops Blazers was ejected for checking to the head after his forearm caught Slovakia's Tomas Mikus on a play behind the Slovak net. That would be an ejection in the CHL and the forearm being up could be a smoking gun for the IIHF's discipline committee.

Camara's penalty was by far the more contentious. The Boston Bruins prospect from the OHL's Barrie Colts had his elbows and stick down and also glided into Slovak defender Patrik Luza, who did not appear to see Camara bearing down on him. Luza, whose head struck the ice from the force of the collision, was taken to hospital as a precaution.

No penalty was signalled initially by either referee. After arbiters Pavel Hodek and Jari Levonen, of the Czech Republic and Finland respectively, huddled, Camara was given five minutes and an early shower after the officials huddled.

The IIHF's Rule 522b clearly spells out that the officials have discretion to levy a major/game misconduct to "a player who injures his opponent as a result of charging." There was an injury to Luza, who was taken off on a stretcher and then to hospital as a precaution.

At first glance, it does look like a penalty for checking too hard, but that is probably a charging penalty 4-of-5 times in major junior hockey. (And every one of those times, people will complain it's a penalty for hitting too hard, but that's where the game is with all the concern about reducing the risk of injuries.)

Would it be a suspendable offence, even in the draconian Ontario Hockey League? No. One instance that comes to mind is from earlier this season; the Windsor Spitfires' Patrick Sieloff ran over the Erie Otters' Hayden Hodgson in a September game and was ejected. There was no suspension by a league that handed out 183 games' worth of player bans during the first half of the season.

(It starts around 1:25 in the clip below.)

That is the OHL, though. There is a lot of grey area with the Camara play, too much to have thought a suspenion was coming. The argument based on the IIHF "no such thing as clean hit to the head" standard doesn't apply since it was a charging penalty rather than a check to the head. It also appeared that at least one ref thought the check was within IIHF rules.

It's a pickle; there was no injury from the most objectionable of the two plays. Mikus returned after the Lipon head-check to score on the Slovak power play. Luza was hurt by the arguably cleaner Camara check.

Canada has had three suspensions in as many world junior tourneys. It sounds like Hockey Canada's highers-up Scott Smith and Scott Salmond will have done very well if the count only jumps to four.

Coincidentally, this all happens on the same day Team USA finally decided to make Sieloff their seventh defenceman for the rest of the WJC.

(Stick taps: Cam Charron, Robert Söderlind.)

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet (videos: TSN, TV Cogeco Ontario).