‘We’re playing for Max now’

Crushers forward Grandmaison suffers severe head injury in Feb. 1 game against Ramblers

WESTVILLE ROAD, N.S. — There are bigger, more important things than winning a hockey game. The Junior A Crushers lost Maxime Grandmaison for an undetermined length of time in a 4-1 loss at Amherst Stadium against the Ramblers on Feb. 1, after the big forward suffered a severe head injury when he fell into the boards. “We’re playing for Max now,” said Crushers forward Evan Gallant, a couple of days after Grandmaison’s injury. “We can do something really special here. If we focus on ourselves for the rest of the regular season, I think good things will come for us.” Head coach Mike Danton called Grandmaison a highcharacter player. “It’s definitely a big loss. He puts the team first and does all the little things right. The last couple of days have been pretty emotional for our guys. Max is one of their brothers who means a lot to them.” Danton said Grandmaison improved dramatically in the days following the injury, all things considered. “He’s doing magnificent, which is great to see.” The Maritime Hockey League club has fallen into fourth place in the South Division, just three points ahead of the Truro Bearcats in the battle for the final playoff spot. The Crushers, who have dropped eight of 10 games since the start of 2020, will attempt to get into the win column against the highscoring Edmundston Blizzard tonight, Feb. 6 (Pictou County Wellness Centre, 7 p.m.). The Blizzard have totalled 190 goals this season, second in the league behind the Summerside Western Capitals (211). Despite the January swoon that has now seeped into February, it’s not all doom and gloom for Pictou County: they trail the third-place South Shore Lumberjacks by just two points, are three back of Amherst, and have multiple games in hand on both of those teams.

NOTES

The family of Max Grandmaison issued a news release through the Crushers’ organization on Feb. 3. “Maxime went awkwardly into the endboards while attempting to check an opposing player. That play resulted in a head injury (skull fracture) that necessitated surgery. Maxime is now recovering well in hospital. We thank everyone for their well wishes and messages of support. We also thank the Amherst EMS staff, the Amherst Hospital Emergency staff as well as the Neurosciences staff of The Moncton Hospital for their excellent care.” Crushers’ captain Jake ▪ Martin received a two-game suspension for elbowing a Rambler in the head and Logan Rawlyck was dinged three games for slew-footing an Amherst player. Former Crushers’ coach ▪ Doug Doull, now the bench boss in Amherst, got a fourgame suspension for verbally abusing an official during the game.