Hall of Famer Paul Coffey suspended following 'discriminatory slur' penalty at midget 'AAA' game
High scoring Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey has been suspended for three games following a verbal confrontation with a fellow midget 'AAA' coach that occurred last Friday in a Greater Toronto Hockey League Game.
From Ken Campbell of The Hockey News:
"What thn.com can confirm is Coffey, who coaches the Toronto Marlboros midget ‘AAA’ team, was involved in an altercation last Friday during a playoff game against the Toronto Jr. Canadiens, the top-ranked team in Ontario whose defenseman Jeff Chychrun, is rated as the No. 1 prospect for this year’s Ontario League draft.The suspension came as a result of a verbal confrontation with the Jr. Canadiens coach in the last minutes of a 5-2 win for the Marlboros. Coffey, according to the game sheet, was originally assessed a gross misconduct penalty for a discriminatory slur, which carries with it an indefinite suspension. After an investigation by the GTHL, Coffey was handed a three-game suspension...
GTHL executive director Scott Oakman would not even confirm that Coffey was suspended, saying only the Marlies had been informed of the league’s decision. Oakman said the GTHL does not make public its suspensions and saw no reason to deviate from that policy in this case.
For their part, neither the Marlies nor Coffey was willing to comment. But thn.com has learned an official from the opposing Jr. Canadiens team lobbied the GTHL to be lenient on Coffey, saying the situation was being blown out of proportion."
Read Campbell's full report here.