Last week we saw a long standing rumor come into the light; the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League have been sanctioned by the league for violating the league’s benefit and recruitment rules.  Within the last few years, there has become a lot of speculation about Canadian junior teams paying players to come and play there.  As college hockey fans, we have seen a significant number of blue chip players bail out on their college commitments to go the major junior route.  Things got interesting last month when the Michigan Daily printed an article stating that the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL had offered Jacob Trouba $200,000 to bail out on his University of Michigan commitment and Kitchener filed a libel lawsuit in response (see that article here Kitchener/Michigan article  So far Kitchener is still in the clear, but now that the OHL has investigated and taken a stand against one team it is safe to assume Windsor will have some company soon.

The Ontario Hockey League has fined the Windsor Spitfires nearly half a million dollars.

The league levied fines totalling $400,000 against the Spitfires and have taken away three first-round draft picks and two second round draft selections from the Spitfires. The fine is the biggest ever levied by the OHL.

In a media release, the league said it conducted two separate investigations led by its director of security and enforcement, who determined the Windsor Spitfires violated the league’s player benefit and recruitment rules and policies.

OHL Commissioner David Branch said the league’s board of governors enacted the player benefit and recruitment rules and policies in 2009. A complaint against the Spits was made in 2010 and an investigation started almost immediately.

“Any payments made to players must conform to rules and policies we have in place,” Branch told CBC News. “There was a violation of our policies and procedures as to the benefits you can provide the players.”

Branch would not say who launched the complaint. Rules state a team, player or anyone within the industry can launch a complaint, he said.

As an NCAA-biased fan, I hope this isn’t the end of these sanctions.  Everybody knows that this has been going on for a long time and it’s refreshing to finally see action being taken.  Hockey coaches, players, and fans know that losing 1^st round draft picks can be a huge setback for a team.  Hopefully this works as a deterrent for the whole league.