Dylan Smoskowitz Sparks Barrie Colts Postgame Fiasco, League Plans Punishment
Dylan Smoskowitz turned Barrie’s Eastern Conference final win into a postgame problem Monday night. After the Colts beat the Brantford Bulldogs 5-0 to finish off a 3-1 series deficit, the coach and defenceman Kashawn Aitcheson spent the news conference repeating the same line instead of answering questions.
Barrie Colts at the podium
The sequence lasted about 30 seconds before OHL director of communications Josh Sweetland cut off the Colts’ portion of the session. Smoskowitz and Aitcheson kept answering every question with the team slogan, “no one cares, work harder.”
That was the moment the win stopped being the only story. Postgame media sessions are standard in the league’s playoffs, and Barrie had reached one after rallying from a 3-1 deficit to win the eastern final at the TD Civic Centre. Instead of the usual availability, the two men turned the exchange into a loop that ended the interview early.
Bryan Crawford’s response
Commissioner Bryan Crawford did not soften the league’s reaction on Tuesday. He said, “Not good,” and added, “I don’t know what that was about.” Crawford also said, “We expect them to handle themselves in an appropriate manner and participate with the media with the standards that we expect in the league in the way they have done traditionally.”
He went further, saying, “We expect better interactions and representing our league in the right way and their team and themselves as well.” Crawford said the Colts will be punished for their actions, putting a formal consequence behind an exchange that had already drawn attention because it happened immediately after a conference-clinching victory.
What Barrie faces next
The timing makes the discipline harder for Barrie to shrug off. The Colts were scheduled to begin the OHL final against the Kitchener Rangers on Wednesday at the Aud, so the team moved from celebrating an eastern championship to dealing with league punishment before the next round started.
For Barrie, the postgame slogan was supposed to be a message from inside the dressing room. Instead, it became the part of Monday night that carried into Tuesday, with the league now holding the Colts to account before the final begins.
