Public battle brews as technicality strips first place from Mississauga minor hockey club 

A Mississauga minor hockey team says it is being unfairly punished over a paperwork slip-up that has cost them 30 points in the standings, knocking them out of first place and likely out of the playoff picture.

Now, parents of the Mississauga Rattlers under 16 AA team in the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) have taken the unprecedented step of going public with their fight by issuing a press release in hopes that it brings pressure on the league to reverse its decision.

According to both the team at the GTHL, the Rattlers were slapped with the penalty after it was discovered that improper paperwork was filed when a trainer appeared behind their bench for 16 games in 2024.

Because of the infraction, the league stripped 14 victories from the Rattlers and instead determined that those games would be counted as 1-0 losses. A fine was also imposed and the coach was suspended for six games.

Both the league and the team acknowledge that the players — all 15 years old and most from Mississauga — had nothing to do with the situation.

As such, the parents say the penalty is too harsh for an infraction that had no outcome on the games and has turned the good play of the squad into one that now languishes in ninth spot in the standings and is currently out of the playoff picture. The team had been in first place before the sanctions were imposed.

The GTHL says the penalty is just and wasn’t taken lightly by officials.

In a released statement, the GTHL said that official paperwork wasn’t filed for the trainer who appeared with the team without receiving the proper approvals. The league said the approval process is part of a necessary vetting procedure when adults are in a position of authority over vulnerable individuals, in the case of children.

The team said the trainer is a physician with the highest level of certification who has been a registered volunteer in five previous seasons and submitted all his credentials in September. The Rattlers say the situation was an  “understandable mistake” and that a GTHL policy allows this decision to be reversed if it is an understandable mistake.

An appeal by the team to the league has been turned down.

“Rather than protecting the children, the GTHL decision is hurting them,” said Jeff Davis, a parent and a volunteer team manager who has been part of the appeal process. “As parents and volunteers, we expect better.”

Ted Griffith, a spokesperson for the team, said the case will go to the Ontario Hockey Federation but that hearing will come too late to salvage the season for the Rattlers.

“It’s too bad, the league could have handled this much differently,” said Griffith. “It punishes the players who had a chance to win the championship this year.”

Griffith said that by going public, the team hopes league officials will face enough pressure to reconsider its decision.