DEVELOPING: Cormier Avoids Record With Guilty Plea

Atlanta Thrashers winger Patrice Cormier will not have a criminal record despite pleading guilty to an assault charge stemming from his ice-plowing of Mikael Tam last season.

Cormier, who originally pleaded not guilty last month, changed his plea when he appeared in court. He will not have a criminal record, meaning he will be able to travel to the United States.

Thus, being able to keep his job at present...

To recap, Cormier was playing for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last January when he elbowed Quebec Remparts defenseman Mikael Tam in the head.

Here's the story as it appeared back then...
FOSG John Lu was with the Remparts...
((HT: TSN/Youtube))


Tam spent a night in hospital after the blow and returned to the lineup shortly thereafter. Cormier was suspended for the season.

The judge granted the discharge after an agreement was reached among the parties.

DEVELOPING: Cormier Pleads Not Guilty In On-Ice Assault Charge

Atlanta Thrashers prospect Patrice Cormier has pleaded not guilty to an assault charge comming from an elbow thrown during a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game last season.

Cormier was playing for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies last January when he absolutely plowed Quebec Remparts defenseman Mikael Tam with a blow to the head. He was charged with assault causing injury. He was suspended for the remainder of his junior hockey career.

Cormier wasn't in court Monday when a lawyer entered the plea on his behalf. He is currently nursing a broken foot during Atlanta Thrashers training camp.

Tam spent a night in hospital and returned to the lineup shortly after.

Here's how the story broke at the time...
((HT: TSN/Youtube))


And the follow-up with FOSG John Lu...
((HT: TSN/Youtube))

Cormier Suspension Upheld On Appeal

((HT: QMJHL))

Atlanta Thrashers prospect Patrice Cormier has lost his appeal of a suspension for the remainder of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season and playoffs for his elbow on the Quebec Remparts' Mikael Tam back on January 25th.

Cormier, selected in the second round of the 2008 draft by New Jersey and traded to the Thrashers in the Ilya Kovalchuk deal earlier this month, has been under suspension by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League since the hit.

Tam spent two days in the hospital because the injuries.

Cormier appealed the penalty in a hearing before league commissioner Gilles Courteau on February 11. Courteau announced his final decision today.

Cormier's junior team, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, can still appeal the ruling to an independent arbitor, or Cormier can petition to play in an independent league for the remainder of the 2010 season.

To review, here's the hit that got Cormier in trouble and causes the Thrashers not to have him as a body in their minor league system.
((HT: QMJHL/TSN))

Cormier Plans Appeal Of QMJHL Suspension

((HT: Rogers Sportsnet))

In much like every other proceeding in the modern era, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies' Patrice Cormier is appealing the season-long suspension regarding his elbows-up hit on the Quebec Remparts Mikael Tam.

The Huskies coach and GM Andre Tourigny said on a conference call that the suspension for the rest of the season and the playoffs was "excessive."

"He could serve up to 48 games, that's too much."

The QMJHL has not received any kind of word on an appeal from the Huskies, Cormier, or any type of Cormier representative. They haven't even gotten any of the appropriate paperwork if there was an interest. And, as a result, there is no word on any kind of appeal-based hearing between the two parties.

Everything rolls downhill in this case where the papers are concerned...
And you can't do anything without the proper papers...

FOSG Martine Gaillard anchors coverage with Louis Jean in Quebec and the HockeyCentral panel in house at the Xanadu studios...


Doug MacLean is right... please, please don't send the kid over to the KHL. That would be a different kind of punishment in and of itself...

Cormier Suspended For Remainder Of Season

((HT: TSN/CP))

In a move that shouldn't surprise anyone, junior hockey league player Patrice Cormier has been suspended for the remainder of the QMJHL season for his elbows-up hit on Mikael Tam on January 17th.

The chief disciplinarian for the league, Raymond Bolduc, called the hit "dangerous and unacceptable."

Bolduc added on Monday that Cormier would not allowed to play in any leagues under Hockey Canada's jurisdiction, but that he had five days to appeal the suspension if he wished to do so.

Cormier cannot play for the team that drafted him, the New Jersey Devils or their AHL team in Albany, New York until his junior team, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, is eliminated from the playoffs. There's a chance he could surface in lower-tier professional league.

Mike Liambas, who was suspended for the year from a hit in the Ontario Hockey League earlier in the season, has ended up playing in the International Hockey League as a playing-time substitute...

Here's the press conference from the QMJHL announcing Cormier's fate...


Here's the hit again for those of you who have forgotten how bad it was...
((HT: TSN/HockeyWebcast))

Tam And Cormier Speak Before Sentencing

((HT: TSN/CP))

Separately, not to each other...

Mikael Tam came forth today to hold a press conference with the Quebec Remparts personnel in Quebec City. It's the frst time he's discussed the elbow to the head from Patrice Cormier over the weekend.

"Today I am not sure how long I will be away from the game," Tam admitted. "I have suffered a traumatic brain injury, I have lost a few teeth and I feel very tired. With the help of the medical staff, my goal is to return to the ice at some point."

FOSG John Lu was there to hear Tam's side of what he actually does remember...
((HT: TSN))


Cormier granted one interview before the sentencing to RDS and the S30 program...
But, we warn you... it's all in French...
((HT: RDS))


Basically, the gist is that Cormier said it was a "reflex."

Helluva reflex there, kid...

Patrice Cormier Suspended Indefinitely By QMJHL

((HT: TSN))

This is really disappointing on a few different levels. And it gives those tree-hugging, hippy, weirdo nutbags that want all the physical play out of hockey more ammunition for their cause.

Take you back to Sunday, Patrice Cormier (who was one of Team Canada's heroes- and team captain- from the recently completed World Juniors) decides to go elbows-up to the Quebec Remparts Mikael Tam. Cormier pops Tam flush, and he was out on the way down. Tam was taken to hospital for brain scans and such. It's reported that he lost a couple of teeth, but thankfully, he checked out this evening.

Cormier was suspended indefinitely by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and the only thing keeping a timetable on it is that the powers-that-are were in transit to other events.

Remparts boss Patrick Roy isn't going to take this one lying down:

"One thing I didn't like was the way he left the ice," Roy said. "He didn't show that he felt sorry for what he did, he was arguing with the referee, and when he was asked to leave the ice, he was looking at our bench."

A police spokesperson says criminal charges are being looked in to...

Here's the report by Rod Smith from our friends at TSN...
The video ain't pretty...
((HT: TSN))