Michael Liambas may be best known in the hockey world for a dangerous hit that fractured the skull of an opposing player, but he now has a chance to be known as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.

The 21-year-old forward will take to the ice in London, Ont., this weekend after being invited to the Leafs' rookie camp tournament — nearly 11 months after his junior career was ended by a season-long suspension.

"We're going to give him a chance at rookie camp," Toronto general manager Brian Burke told the Toronto Star. "He's an honours student. Everyone that's ever played with him raves about his character."

On Oct. 30, 2009, Liambas — then an over-age player with the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters — delivered a hit to Kitchener Rangers defenceman Ben Fanelli that resulted in Fanelli requiring a week in hospital with skull and facial fractures.

The Woodbridge, Ont., native was suspended from the OHL for the balance of the season and moved on to a stint in the International Hockey League but his tenure with the Bloomington Prairie Thunder was almost as tumultuous.

Liambas' fifth game with the club saw him pick up a five-game suspension after he ruptured the spleen of an opposing player with another strong check on Dec. 29.

Liambas described the check on Muskegon Lumberjacks defenceman Jason Lawmaster as a "normal hit" in front of the bench.

"He was on his way down a little bit as I finished the check," Liambas told the Bloomington Pantagraph.

In an interview with the Muskegon Chronicle, Lawmaster said his injury was the result of an accident.

"I think it was a fluke thing," Lawmaster said. "We were both falling, and I don't think he was trying to blow up my spleen."