Junior hockey fans are calling out the OHL for being softer than a teddy bear.
The junior hockey league suspended Michael Misa for one game on Wednesday for his actions during a game against the Sarnia Sting on Sunday.
What did the Saginaw Spirit star do to earn a game misconduct and the following one-game ban?
He lofted a teddy bear over the glass and into the stands.
Sunday happened to be the Sting’s Teddy Bear toss, a tradition across Canadian junior hockey in which the crowd litters the ice with stuffed animals after the home team scores a goal.
The toys are collected and then donated to charity.
On Sunday, the crowd began to shower the players on ice with the teddies after Sarnia’s Beckham Edwards scored his team’s lone goal of the night.
Misa, who was on the ice for the goal, then lofted a teddy back over the glass into the crowd. He then continued to skate around the ice as stuffies rained down and attempted to return a second toy to the stands, only for it to hit the top of the glass and fall back to the ice.
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According to OHL rules, intentionally shooting objects off the ice and into the audience — no matter how soft they may be — constitutes a game misconduct.
While Misa got the boot from the game, the Spirit were able to go on to a 4-1 victory over the hosts.
Fans were not happy with the suspension, calling out the OHL on X.
“Why is the OHL so soft?” one user wrote.
“A teddy bear isn’t exactly going to hurt anyone, it’s just funny,” another user wrote.
“Because he shot a teddy bear back into the crowd… Wildly soft thing to suspend someone over. Literally and figuratively,” a third user joked.
Misa is seen as one of the top prospects for the 2025 NHL draft.
He has 25 goals and 49 points in 25 games this season, putting him second in the OHL scoring race.
The 17-year-old Oakville native was granted exceptional-player status and allowed into the OHL draft a year before normal eligibility in 2022 and was selected first overall by the Spirit.
He went on to help the team win the Memorial Cup on home ice last season.