The Fort Wayne Komets defeated the Muskegon Fury 4-1 on Wednesday night. But with apologies to left wing Matt Reynolds, who had the first hat trick of his career, that victory seems secondary right now.
Thanks to one of the dirtiest hits I've seen in my 11 seasons covering hockey and a lifetime of watching, Komets defenseman Kevin Hansen was injured during the third period when Justin Rohr checked him from behind and into the boards in front of the Komets' bench. Hansen was crouching when the hit took place.
According to team president Michael Franke, Hansen was complaining of severe pain in his neck but was able to move his extremities. I will try to get you an update on Hansen's condition tonight. He was taken to Parkview Hospital, after a 12-minute delay that saw him taken off on a stretcher.
The Fort Wayne players said, at least on the record, that they didn't think Rohr was intending to injure Hansen. And the belief was that referee Jarrod Ragusin made the appropriate call with a major penalty and a game misconduct.
The Komets will ask the league to review the incident. If disciplinarian Brad Jones doesn't give him at least a 15-game suspension for this hit, I will be surprised. Although, it doesn't appear that Rohr, a rookie, has a history of this sort of thing.
As for the game, the Komets didn't believe they played very well. Fatigue, they said, was a factor. They will not be on the ice Thursday before playing at Muskegon, Mich., on Friday.
-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette
Good to know he could move arms and legs. It sounded awful.
Posted by: Sherry | January 02, 2008 at 11:02 PM
I thought he was slowing down just prior to the hit (maybe going to the bench?)and that the Fury player showed some aggression during the hit from behind, it looked dirty from my seat.
Posted by: Burgee | January 02, 2008 at 11:03 PM
I hope that Kevin will be alright.
The sound the boards made sounded like a car driving thru a wall.
I'm wondering how long it will take for Brad Jones to review the incident and decide if a suspension is warranted.
Posted by: Bob | January 02, 2008 at 11:06 PM
At first, Chase was joking about Hansen going down in every game. When it became clear it was more serious, the radio crew got serious in a hurry. Sounded like they were getting their information from K's management -- but that may have just been my interpretation of what was said.
Posted by: Sherry | January 02, 2008 at 11:06 PM
To me it looked like Kevin was coming off for a change when he was hit. There is no way he knew it was coming. My family's prayers go out to he and his family this evening.
Posted by: Shawn | January 02, 2008 at 11:13 PM
You don't have to have a history of dirty hits to perform one!!
Posted by: St.Christopher | January 02, 2008 at 11:13 PM
Awful hit to Hansen. It was hard to watch him lay on the ice motionless. I wonder if The Fury will waive Rohr tonight or in the morning. That was pretty dirty. Ramsay looked pretty sick on the bench during the whole thing. I hope Kevin is ok. My prayers are with him and his family. That was bad.
Posted by: Hit Somebody!!! | January 02, 2008 at 11:14 PM
that was absolutley dirty and bush league and i cant believe there was no retribution... cant wait for them to come back next friday when jerad shaw is there to set them straight
Posted by: JW | January 02, 2008 at 11:38 PM
My thoughts and prayers go out to Kevin and his family.... Lets hear some good news in the morning!
Posted by: JR | January 02, 2008 at 11:39 PM
oh yeah and scoops, i was wide open on a tight end dump in section 211 and you overshot me... safety picked you off for 6... study film, read the safety, ill be open next time
Posted by: JW | January 02, 2008 at 11:40 PM
As I said in the other thread, thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family that everything is okay with him. Him as a hockey player is secondary right now. That was an awful hit. I still cannot get that sound out of my head.
This takes us down to 5 healthy defensemen but I thought I heard Chase say tonight that (I assume) Warner's injury was not as bad as they initially thought. I know its still early but I wondered if they would be making some calls to bring someone in, possibly long term.
Posted by: scoops | January 02, 2008 at 11:43 PM
and one more thing. PLEASE STAY IN THE NET REITER....does anyone know what he was doing when he was behind the net ??? maybe i looked down for a second and missed something...and he got absolutley smoked on the goal muskegon had
Posted by: JW | January 02, 2008 at 11:44 PM
JW, who did you want the Komets to go after? The player was kicked out of the game and going after anyone else would have just been dumb! (Just wondering, were you the drunk guy up in 202 yelling, "An eye for an eye! Get one of them!")
The Fury goal wasn't from Reiter going out of the net, it was from Guy and PC getting tied up and taking each other out of the play. Now when Reiter came out in the third behind the net in the middle of the freakin' play, that was dumb!
Posted by: Hoss | January 03, 2008 at 12:13 AM
no, i just expected retribution.. you always have some stupid shot to take with someone if you disagree... can you post without doing that? thanks hoss
Posted by: JW | January 03, 2008 at 12:34 AM
Justin, Do your best to keep your ears open for any talk of a defensive addition. Tonighs injury puts us three D down. Ouch. Hate to see Kevin go down like that. I hope that he recovers and is able to resume play quickly. Same goes for Warner. He was really turning it on before he went down. I don't have a good feeling about Brent's status. This puts the team in a tough spot. Someone had mentioned last week about putting P.C. on Defense. It was a courious thought but maybe not a bad one. I'm sure Al and the brothers will figure it out. It would be nice to know what options they toss around behind closed doors.
Keep us posted. Go Komets.
Posted by: The Fan | January 03, 2008 at 12:37 AM
I didn't think asking a question to another blogger was taking a "Stupid Shot," but if it is I will try to refrain from asking questions...I am sorry if I disagree about the players should want to go out and kick someone's butt after a 12 min. delay of watching one of the leaders of their team get straped to a back-board and taken off the ice. I guess it would be hard enough to play the game after that, let alone want to hurt someone else just because one of your's got hurt...
Posted by: Hoss | January 03, 2008 at 09:35 AM
you dont need to be sorry for disagreeing...just how you respond is kind of smart-*** sometimes...we all root for the same team here last time i checked.
and no i wasnt in 202, if you would of read my post i said 211. the thing is you made it seem like such a dumb question. which it seems that i havent been the only one to ask it. so no real big deal i just dont appreciate the smart stuff that goes with it... but dont ever be sorry for disagreeing hoss
Posted by: JW | January 03, 2008 at 03:20 PM