No replies to this topic

[Rock]

CIS player suffers serious neck injury

http://www.tsn.ca/ci...y.asp?id=140814

Canadian Press

10/24/2005 6:52:17 PM

MONCTON, N.B. (CP) - A University of Moncton hockey player was in hospital with a serious neck injury Monday after slamming head-first into the boards during a weekend game.

Sabastien Savage, a third-year forward from St. Albert, Ont., was injured early in the second period of a game Saturday night against the Acadia Axemen.

The 24-year-old was trying to outrace an Acadia defender to a loose puck in the Axemen zone when he lost his balance.

He slammed into the boards and lay motionless for 20 minutes until he was carefully placed on a backboard and taken to hospital.

"It happened right in front of us," Moncton student Daniel Belliveau told ATV News. "We're a pretty loud section and it just went dead silent."

Moncton head coach Bob Mongrain declined Monday to reveal the extent of the injury but said it was serious and the team was devastated.

"It's something that's probably never going to heal totally," said Mongrain, a former NHL player.

"Sebastien is a tremendous individual. Not much of a talker, but so respected. That's why what happened this weekend has hit everybody so hard."

Savage's parents arrived from Ontario on Sunday and asked that no information on their son's condition be released.

Most of Savage's teammates were back on the ice Monday for practice, but Mongrain said it's difficult for them to concentrate on hockey.

"The university community is very saddened by this very unfortunate incident," said Marc Boudreau, the university's athletic director.