A brutal hit to the head in a heated OHL game should result in severe disciplinary action for Brandt Clarke of the Barrie Colts.
The Colts were down 3-2 in the waning seconds of a road game against the Sudbury Wolves, when C Quinton Byfield, 17 of the Wolves, skated into the Colts zone to pass the puck to a teammate who iced the game with an empty net goal. But as he released the pass, he took a big blindside hit from D Clarke, 16, and fell to the ice. Clarke received a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Byfield's status is unknown at the time.
Byfield was the first overall pick of the 2018 OHL Draft and went on to win OHL Rookie of the Year and CHL Rookie of the Year, as the best Canadian juniors player in 2018-19 season. With 61 points in 64 games, Byfield came into this season as one of the top prospects for the 2020 NHL Draft, ranked #3 overall by Hockeyprospect.com and #2 overall by Futureconsiderations.ca.
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A full version of the highlights including the hit
