Binghamton, NY - The federal prospects hockey league has been informed that the Binghamton Black Bears have decided to Officially Appeal all three (3) suspensions that were assessed by the Director of Player Safety from the in game incident that occurred Sunday, March 9 in Wytheville, Virginia.
The Commissioner and Vice-Commissioner of the FPHL scheduled to hold this appeal Wednesday, March 19th. The FPHL Director of Player Safety Dave Jackson has elected to defer this appeal to the FPHL Board of Governors.
While the suspensions are under appeal, the Commissioner of the FPHL has put a stay on the suspensions of the three individuals under appeal. Coach Brant Sherwood, Tyson Kirkby, and Dakota Bohn will be eligible for games until the date of appeal.
The league will release the results of the governors decision at the completion of the appeal process?
Below is a look at the disciplinary process by the FPHL
Player Safety review process (DOPS)
The FPHL has held a simple process when it comes to the review and assessment of discipline. All major penalties and game misconduct in the FPHL are automatically reviewed by DOPS. Following each evening that games are played, the officiating staff reports all incidents to the Director of Officiating and Director of Player Safety. The Director of Officiating is responsible for the collection of reports and videos making sure that all materials are in the hands of DOPS so he may conduct a review of all incidents with all available mediums. DOPS uses all video, game feeds, goal cameras, replay systems, or outside videos available to them for the review process to make the best possible judgment on a situation. DOPS then gives a breakdown of the situation and it assesses discipline if applicable. It is then passed to the teams.
Appeals
Should a team choose to appeal, the head coach is responsible for contacting the league and formally requesting an appeal. The head coach must also supply additional video evidence for the appeal. The Director of Player Safety handles all appeals however, DOPS may choose to defer any appeal to the FPHL Executive Board or FPHL Board of Governors.
An appeal process can have the following outcome
- The fines/suspensions can be upheld and not changed
- The fines/suspension could be reduced
- The fines/suspensions could be vacated
- The fine/suspensions could be increased*
*An appeal can sometimes produce additional evidence that could go against the team allowing DOPS or the league boards to increase fines and/or suspensions.
The FPHL is a Single-A Minor Professional hockey league operating in its 15th season during 2024-25.