Message Delivered; Two Spartan Icers to Sit Remainder of Season.
Submitted by Paul Mercier on Tue, 01/27/2009 - 12:41
The message sent by Coach Rick Comley and his staff at MSU was loud and clear on Monday afternoon: there will be no goons on this team. Comley suspended two Spartan hockey players for the remainder of the season on Monday, following an on-ice incident that took place against the University of Michigan on Saturday afternoon.
Cory Tropp of Grosse Pointe Woods and Andrew Conboy of Minnesota, will both miss sit out the regular season, and any post season activities. The incident, in which U-M junior Steve Kampfer was violently thrown to the ground by MSU’s Conboy, and then violently slashed across the neck by Tropp, came in the waning moments of a heated rivalry match up at Yost Arena. Conboy received a double-minor penalty, and Tropp received an ejection from the game. Comley and his staff, however, didn’t feel the punishment was severe enough, and rightfully so.
“What happened near the end of the game this weekend is not the way in which we want our hockey program represented,” said Comley. “We felt that we had to send a strong message that this behavior will not be tolerated.”
The incident is just the latest in an abysmal season for the program which currently sits in last place in the CCHA with a conference record of 4-12. The Spartans’ overall record sits at just 7-16.
