Pine Creek player injured during Steamboat Springs hockey game in Colorado Springs | Steamboat Pilot & Today
Pine Creek player injured during Steamboat Springs hockey game in Colorado Springs By Luke Graham
Steamboat Springs  On Friday night in Colorado Springs, hockey was a distant, distant second. Late in the Steamboat Springs-Pine Creek game, an Eagles player went deep into his own zone when a Sailors player hit him from behind. The Pine Creek player crumbled, convulsed in pain and screamed. For more than 20 minutes, paramedics worked with the player, eventually strapping him to a backboard and taking him off the ice. “They took him off, and his hand was in the air, and he was moving,” said Brian Harvey, the general manager of Radio Partners LLC who also calls Sailors hockey games. “The fact he was making noise and moving was hopefully a positive sign.”
Pine Creek coach Ken Martel said that the player had a laceration on his head but that he is going to be "just fine." "His CT scan and everything were clear, and he's going to be held for observation overnight," Martel said.
"We're all just happy that he's OK."
Before the injury, the Eagles were up 5-2 with 3 minutes, 52 seconds left in the game. After the delay, the referees called the game. “It was really sobering and pretty freaking scary,” Harvey said. The two teams left the first period tied at 1, thanks to goals by Pine Creek’s Hayden Smith and Steamboat’s Jackson Perry. The Eagles put the game away in the second with three unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead. The Sailors’ Jordan Gorr added a late power play goal in the second period to cut it to 4-2, but the Eagles’ Riley Gregory scored midway through the third to stomp any thoughts of a comeback. Steamboat (3-2-1) plays at 6:15 p.m. Saturday at Columbine. Watch the game here, or tune into FM 98.9 or 97.7. To reach Luke Graham, call 970-871-4229 or email lgraham@SteamboatToday.com
Steamboat hockey team picks up win