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Hockey players have a reputation for repeatedly trotting out tired clichés and generic answers while speaking with the media. However, the coach and the captain of an OHL team in Canada helped their squad earn a sizable fine by responding to every answer with the same five words during an awkward press conference that drew the league’s ire.
It’s hard to envy the reporters who are tasked with trying to get soundbites from hockey players who tend to go on autopilot during interviews that are known for their tendency to revolve around the importance of getting pucks in deep and on net against a team that has a lot of talent.
Those canned answers can be traced back to the culture of a sport where players are usually trained to avoid ruffling feathers and advised against attempting to stir up any unnecessary drama. That’s not to say they aren’t capable of providing actual insight or putting their personality on display, but those situations tend to be the exception as opposed to the rule.
Part of me wants to give one OHL team some credit for bucking tradition with the approach it decided to harness in the wake of a recent playoff game, but I also can’t fault the league for taking them to task over the antics that generated a fair amount of criticism and a big fine.
The Barrie Colts will have to fork over $15K to the OHL for pulling a Marshawn Lynch at a press conference
In 2015, Marshawn Lynch showed up at the media day that was organized ahead of Super Bowl XLIX to field questions from the reporters he told he was only speaking to in order to avoid being punished by the NFL. He informed them he was going to respond to every query with the same answer, and he made good on that promise by saying “I’m just here so I don’t get fined” close to 30 times.
On Monday, we were treated to a similar scene when the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League capped off a comeback after falling to 3-1 in their playoff series against the Brantford Bulldogs with a 5-0 victory in Game 7.
The win was overshadowed by a press conference featuring Colts coach Dylan Smoskowitz and co-captain Kashawn Aitcheson, who replied to every question they fielded by saying, “No one cares, work harder.”
“No one cares, work harder.”
Barrie Colts HC Dylan Smoskowitz and captain Kashawn Aitcheson didn’t have much to say following their game 7 win in the OHL Eastern Conference Final. pic.twitter.com/wdjImZO3cU
— BarDown (@BarDown) May 5, 2026
The clip went viral as plenty of hockey fans criticized the duo for their diva-like behavior, which came at the expense of the reporters who were trying to do their jobs.
On Tuesday, Smoskowitz admitted the decision to go that route was a “big oopsie” while explaining the rationale behind it, saying he was an impromptu protest after he was told the room where the press conference was held was too small to accommodate the entire team.
Unfortunately, that apology was not enough to prevent the OHL from fining the Colts $15,000 for what a press release described as “conduct detrimental to the public perception of the League.”
The Colts earned the right to play for the J. Ross Robertson Cup with the victory, and they’ll kick off the OHL Championship Series against the Kitchener Rangers on Wednesday night.