I’m not sure he has the experience to provide a legal analysis of the case. Regarding the civil aspects, look at these two cases: McSorely was sentenced to 18 months probation. Bertuzzi doesn’t even have a criminal record from the incident, he was given a conditional discharge and when his year of probation was up, the case was removed from his record — and he put a guy out of hockey.

So, given that the two of the most notorious incidents of recent on-ice violence amounted to less than slaps on the wrist, I doubt we’ll see much more from the authorities.

“While the circumstances here are certainly obvious, there are thousands of other crippling injuries every year that are not. And, unfortunately, you cannot pick one of the obvious ones for a court case without opening the door to the rest. Intent to injure in just about any contact sport is there. You don’t hit someone with the intent of making sure they get up and lead a productive afternoon. Who is to say that any hit on the boards that goes awry didn’t have some debilitating intent? And further, do you want the person(s) making that decision to be wearing a black robe or sitting in a box full of 11 other people, most of whom have never played or watched your sport at the level you watch/play/enjoy?”

The thought of the legal system getting involved in this is bad news for sports in general. That’s why I’m so disappointed in MSU and the CCHA for not barring Tropp and Conboy for this year and next, or outright expelling both players. Brian is right, their presence next year will be nothing but bad news for the CCHA. But once you set precedent for criminal charges in sports, it’s impossible to drag the law out of the sporting arena. the shades of grey grow deeper and deeper, and before you know it the whole sport is changed because of the liability issue.

How many times have you seen a boarding call where someone’s called for the player’s head? Even when it was clear to one side that the player was trying to get the other player’s side and not his back? Shades of grey. The case may be a little more cut and dry against Tropp (and whether we like it or not, it ain’t that cut and dry against Conboy), but the ones that follow won’t be. And we have to be conscious of that. My two cents anyway.

Reported this afternoon by Jim Comparoni from SpartanMag.com

As has been widely-reported, Comley suspended sophomore Corey Tropp and freshman Andrew Conboy for the rest of the year.

Today, Comley said they are off the team and were given the option of holding talks and potentially rejoining the team next year. Tropp is still in school and apparently is interesting in possibly rejoining the team next year. Comley said Conboy has withdrawn from school, is out of the program, gone, and Comley wishes him well.

Comley said he wrestled hard with the decision, and said it’s the second most difficult decision he has ever had to make as a coach. In the end, Comley said the important thing was to uphold the image of the MSU hockey program, the university and college hockey.