The president of Loyola High School in NDG is defending his decision to pull both its juvenile hockey teams out of the upcoming league playoffs, just days before they were slated to begin.
The students had recently been given three-day suspensions by the school, after the 10th- and 11th-graders admitted to drinking while on a school trip to Spain.
Loyola's president Paul Donovan says according to school policy, the suspensions from school also mean suspensions from sports teams — effectively leaving both teams with only a handful of players.
Making exceptions to allow the boys to play, he says, would have sent the wrong message.
"Most of the kids, and most of the parents [understand the rationale behind the school's disciplinary code], and have grown enormously because of it," Donovan told CJAD 800's Leslie Roberts. "I'm really proud of the guys. When they accept [their punishment] with maturity and move on from that, that's amazing. That's what we're about."
Since the move was announced, the switchboard at the all-boys Catholic private school lit up with angry phone calls from parents.
Brigitte Garceau, a parent and lawyer, told Leslie the kids have been punished enough for their misdeeds.
"They have already served three days of suspension, with a myriad of work in terms of reflection papers and research and apology letters," Garceau said. "But afterwards, when you say to two teams that have been devoting their time and their energy to working extremely hard to going to all the tournaments and the practices...the consequences have become absurd."
One of the teams ended the regular season at the top of the nine-team league, while the other finished third in a seven-team league.
Garceau says the move will deprive the kids of the possibility of becoming champions.
"For three-quarters of the players, it is their graduating year, and there's nothing they would love more than to bring a championship trophy back to their school," she said. "That's a point of pride for them, and that's what they've been working hard to do."
Parents are also suggesting some of the teens may be thinking of applying for hockey scholarships at U.S. colleges, and that having no playoff records to point to could put the students at a disadvantage.