The Windsor Spitfires will be without star forward Josh Ho-Sang for less than originally thought after league officials concluded that the original ruling was too steep.

PHOTO CREDIT - Chris Savard, OurHomeTown.ca

Windsor - May 27, 2014 - The Ontario Hockey League has announced a reduction in the suspension handed out to Spitfires forward Josh Ho-Sang.

In a ruling issued back on April 6th, Ho-Sang was assessed a 15-game suspension as the result of a play that left London Knights defenceman Zach Bell with a broken leg. Bell missed the rest of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs, a total of five games, but did return in time to play in the MasterCard Memorial Cup earlier this month.

That suspension has now been reduced to just six games.

“The League took this position as the result of its further consideration of the incident which occurred in Windsor on the 27th of March, 2014 involving the Spitfires and the visiting London Knights Hockey Club,” said a release issued by the league earlier today.

Reaction from the club's side was decidedly positive.

“This is great news for our organization and we are very pleased to hear this from the league today,” President and Head Coach Bob Boughner said. “Sometimes in the heat of competition accidents happen. Josh certainly never intended to injure anyone and demonstrated he genuinely felt bad after the accident occurred. Josh is a big part of our team and is obviously one of the most dynamic and talented players in the league. So having him back earlier makes a big difference for us. We're also very happy for our fans. This has been an emotional time for them. The prospect of not having Josh for nearly a quarter of the season was cause for concern and conversation among our season ticket holders. This is a big time in Josh's life and for his family, with the NHL Draft coming up next month. We're happy they'll be heading to Philadelphia with this good news.”

Ho-Sang is NHL Central Scouting's #22-ranked North American skater heading into the draft. Reached at the NHL Draft Combine in Toronto, Ho-Sang expressed his gratitude.

"I appreciate that the league took the consideration to reduce my suspension. It was an unfortunate play that led to the injury. Obviously I want to get back to playing as soon as possible. I'm very happy to get this news today."