The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) has handed down a 10-game suspension to London Knights’ forward Alex Turko for a hit on Trent Fox of the Mississauga Steelheads on October 22.
Turko was assessed a match penalty in the second period after the officials ruled he made contact with Fox’s head as Fox was carrying the puck through the neutral zone.
A suspension of that length has become expected in the OHL with penalties that involve contact with the head. In fact, the league handed down an identical suspension to Zach Poirier of the Guelph Storm on the same day for a hit to the head of Barrett Hayton of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
London Knights’ General Manager Rob Simpson says Turko will be missed in the lineup.
“Alex has been playing very well for us. He has been slotted into a lot of key situations. He’s very good on face-offs, he brings a lot of tenacity on the forecheck and he’s an older presence in the dressing room that has been around the team since last year and understands everything that goes on with our team day-to-day and with younger guys on your roster, you need that.”
Turko will not be eligible to return to game action until November 22.
You sympathize with him,” said Simpson. “He wasn’t trying to intentionally injure anybody and there was no injury on the play. I think that you tell him that it is a time to work on different parts of his game, and try to get him in the best shape possible so that when he does come back, he steps right back in where he was.”
Under league rules, Simpson pointed out that Turko does not have to be away from the Knights while he serves the suspension.
“He can do everything but play games. He can practice, workout and do skill development. There is no limitation on that.”
Turko is from London and has played 22 career games for the Knights and has recorded three assists, but he is the kind of player whose contributions cannot always be measured. He has won 56 per cent of his face-offs so far this year and has become an excellent penalty killer.
Turko was an eighth-round pick for the Knights in 2015 and spent most of the 2016-17 season playing in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) with the St. Thomas Stars, while practicing and seeing some time with the Knights.
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