Lake Superior State freshman Raoul Boilard has been suspended four games by the CCHA for a check from behind on Halloween night.
The league announced the decision Wednesday, and the reaction this morning has been loud. The hit came at 19:01 of the second period against Minnesota State on Oct. 31, and the player on the receiving end went to the hospital.
That player is Sam Court, a 22-year-old junior defenseman from Winnipeg who transferred in from Arizona State. According to HockeyFeed, Court had still not been released as of Wednesday afternoon, and his family has not shared any details about his condition.
Court had been off to a quiet but solid start, with four points in eight games. He hit the boards hard, and that's where his season stopped for now.
The CCHA called Boilard's actions "inconsistent with the CCHA's standards for player conduct, sportsmanship, and player safety." The Director of Officiating and the Commissioner made the call together.
Boilard is not an anonymous freshman. The Rangers took him in the fourth round of the 2024 NHL Draft, 119th overall, after he played for Cape Breton in the QMJHL.
Why the four-game suspension looks even lighter
The suspension covers the next four NCAA games, against Michigan Tech and Bemidji State. He can return Dec. 4.
There's a catch. Lake Superior State hosts Maryville twice this week, and because those aren't CCHA games, the suspension doesn't start until next weekend. So the clock doesn't move for Boilard's team at all while Court remains in a hospital bed.
Fans and observers have called the punishment embarrassing, and some want him out for the entire season. That's an emotional reaction, but the timing problem is real. A league that says it is "committed to eliminating dangerous and unnecessary contact" handed down four games for a play that put someone in the hospital for days, and the schedule softens it further.
Four games for a check from behind with this outcome is too light. The CCHA had the chance to set a standard and chose a number that most readers will forget by Dec. 4.
Nobody outside Court's family knows what his recovery looks like, and that is the real unknown here. Boilard's return date is set for Dec. 4, and the pressure on the CCHA to explain the decision will not wait that long.
Was a four-game suspension enough for Raoul Boilard's hit on Sam Court?
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