Michael Liambas of the Erie Otters spoke for the first time on Friday after being suspended by the Ontario Hockey League for his hit on Kitchener Rangers defenceman Ben Fanelli.
"I feel like I'm going to jail for this. I feel like I'm stuck in a box," said Liambas. "When you get punished for anything, you try to learn from it, you try to take a life lesson out of it and make sure it doesn't happen again. But that's what I'm having trouble with."
Last Friday, Liambas skated toward Fanelli on the forecheck and hit Fanelli into the end boards, knocking his helmet off in the process. Fanelli fell to the ice unconscious, was carted of the ice on a stretcher and airlifted to hospital in Hamilton with skull and facial fractures.
Liambas was assessed a match penalty for boarding and a game misconduct on the play. On Wednesday, he was suspended for the season.
But Liambas isn't sure what he did wrong on the play.
"I guess I could slow down next time, not skate as fast, but I really don't know what I could do different," Liambas said. "I've probably made that hit about 500 times. Not that exact same hit, but the same situation where the [defenceman] is coming behind the net and the forward is coming the other way. You can catch the [defenceman] off guard, it's an easy play and usually everyone gets back up from that. Whatever could have gone wrong that night, went wrong."
Liambas stressed that it was not his intent to injure Fanelli but rather to create some energy for his team.
"I can respect what Branch is saying about me speeding and going too fast, but I'm never out there to hurt anyone," said Liambas. "It's my style of play, I've made it this far being that little spark plug."
"No one's ever out there to intentionally hurt anyone. I know we're on different teams, but we all have the same dreams and the same goals and I don't think anyone is trying to take that away from anyone."
But OHL Commissioner Dave Branch felt the Erie forward showed a lack of respect for Fanelli.
"Players must understand they shall be held accountable for their actions," Branch said in a statement on Wednesday. "We must all work towards improving the level of respect players have towards opposing players and the game in general."
Fanelli remains in a Hamilton hospital and his condition has been upgraded from critical to serious, but stable.