AESHL Accusations Foolish & Disappointing

Last week, the president of the St. John’s Capitals hockey team in the AESHL, Jack Casey, hurled accusations that players on the Harbour Grace CeeBee Stars were being paid to play, something that the CeeBee Stars players and executive deny. Casey has presented nothing to substantiate the accusations, indicating only that the CeeBees were in a different class than other teams in the league.

CeeBees defenseman Sam Roberts called the accusations disappointing and foolish. Roberts, who played various levels of professional hockey through his career had accumulated 30 points in 20 games with the CeeBees in the 2016-17 season, good for second place in league scoring. When asked about the accusations of being paid, Roberts said “I think some people speculate that maybe I received some sort of money. It’s pretty disappointing to come home and be accused of things that are against what a league and what a team stand for”.

Speculation about players such as Roberts being paid is what led to the AESHL kicking the CeeBee Stars out of the league. Roberts indicates “I played professional hockey in different places for the better part of seven years. To think that I would come home because I wanted to come and play hockey for money is a bit foolish.”

These same sentiments are echoed by fellow CeeBees player Matt Thomey. Thomey returned to the AESHL in the 2016-17 season after spending three years with the Corner Brook Royals in the CWSHL. Thomey indicated that it was the fact that players weren’t being paid that attracted him back to AESHL after accepting a job in Whitbourne near his hometown of Harbour Grace. When asked about players being paid Thomey stated “I knew that nobody was getting paid. I had that part of my life kind of behind me. I enjoyed being home.”

When asked about the potential of playing hockey in the CWSHL as the Capitals’ president had suggest, both Roberts and Thomey said it was unlikely. Both players indicated that family time was more important. Thomey indicated “We all wanted a game of hockey close to home. We didn’t want to dedicate our weekends to travelling out west.”

Roberts is struggling with the decision the AESHL executives made, indicating “I can’t really make any sense of it. I think it’s all a bit too foolish to even try to find a reason.”

While the Harbour Grace CeeBee Stars are exploring their options with an appeal to Hockey Newfoundland & Labrador, many fans and team supporters have expressed their displeasure with the AESHL’s action.

Drop us a comment below and Newfoundland Hockey Talk what you think of this situation.

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