ouch. **UPDATED**
The Americans lost forward Neal Prokop just 1:02 into the game when he lost an edge and went down in the corner to the left of Gore. He broke his left femur and is done for the remainder of the postseason.
"He's had a great season," Hiller said of Prokop, who scored 22 goals for the year. "It's disappointing for him and us. We've got guys to step in and play his minutes."
Owsley was replaced by Alex Pechurskiy after Crooks' goal gave Chilliwack four goals on 13 shots.
"Drew got off to a great start in the series," Hiller said. "There were a couple of those tonight he'd like to have back. He'll be fine."
Tri-City had its chances through two periods with a 27-19 shot advantage and five power plays, but the Americans kept coming up empty. (Herald)
The loss of Prokes is huge. Huger than huge. He's a big, physical presence who logs a ton of minutes and is an effective playmaker. To say he's been an integral part of this team this season is an understatement. If the team would award Unsung Hero again, he'd get my vote. Well, he'd share it with Pokey.
I Googled "femur bone fracture" and it doesn't look good. Depending on where it's fractured, there's several options as far as surgery, from a rod and pins to a metal plate and more pins. Looks like, from the several sites I looked at, recovery (not including rehabilitation) is 3-6 months. So that's September. Will Prokop be back as a 20? Lord I hope so. He's been one I predicted Bob would keep as a 20 out of the current crop of 19s. Obviously, this could put a damper on things. What a terrible way to end an amazing season he's had. I haz sad.
I don't know what else to say about the rest of the game. Sure they completely outshot the Bruins, but how many of those were quality shots Hard to say. Drew had a very off night, I'm sure he'll be back to form tonight. He's never had 2 shitty nights in a row this season I don't think. Coach might opt to go with From Russia With Glove, who knows.
It's time for the defense to help out, goalies can't do it all. It's time for guys like Todd Kennedy to step up and try to fill the big shoes of Prokes without getting more misconducts. Play big, but play smart. Bruins are indeed playing very very physical hockey, TK, Schmidt, Messier, hell toss in Moser--these are the bigger bodies that need to do some (smart) pushing back, making room for Shinny, Pokey, Lazo, etc. to do their work.
***UPDATE*** from Annie Fowler's blog:
Neal, who broke his left femur Tuesday night against Chilliwack, was in the surgical holding unit at 11 a.m. awaiting surgery, so no visitors allowed.
Tri-City GM Bob Tory said he had a chat with the doctor and that Neal should expect to have a pin inserted in his leg and that rehab could last up to 5 months.
"You hope it's not career ending," Tory said, "and you hope he can recover as an athlete. It was a freak thing -- just an accident. Credit to the trainers and medical staff at the building. They did good job taking care of him."
6 comments:
OUCH! That's a huge injury. He just went into the boards?? Poor kid. Yeah it depends on where he broke it and how badly it was fractured. Good thing is that he should be about done growing so they don't have to worry about growth plates or anything like that. Poor kid. It's gonna be a good three months at the very least. Ugh. Not good for the AMS.
It could get worse you guys. Being down 2 - 0 going into Spokane doesn't look very promising. I think you guys can make a serious run this year though and i mean that! Looks like Owsley had a rough night but judging Jim's comment "he'll be fine" i assume Drew is going to be starting tonight as well?
@WintHawk--yeah, I feel for you guys, thought Portland would be doing better at this point =/
As to whether Drew is starting, I have no idea, I would assume so, but Bob, I mean Jim, might go with FRWG, just to change things up or whatever.
Wishing Neal a speedy and complete recovery! :(
Kurtis Foster did it and got back to the NHL. It will be a ton of work but he is amazing proof it can be done. Poor kid though. That's a doozie. I wish him the very best.
Wow. Hard to believe losing an edge and going down could snap a femur--that's a moajor, major injury. Somebody mentioned Kurtis Foster, and that's who your guy should have a poster of on his wall, where he can see it every single day. Good luck, Neil.
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