OHL team pauses after distressing leg injury
The Niagara Icedogs will not play the rest of the weekend as the team continues to recover from the shock of goaltender Tucker Tynan’s distressing leg laceration suffered in Thursday’s game against the London Knights.
On Friday, the Ontario Hockey League and the Icedogs announced the postponement of Niagara’s games today in Peterborough and Sunday in Ottawa to “allow the players time to cope and access resources for support.”
They also updated Tynan’s progress, indicating the 17-year-old from Chicago underwent a successful procedure and is expected to make a complete recovery.
Tynan was taken to hospital after a London player was shoved into the Niagara crease and a skate cut open the netminder’s leg and led to massive bleeding. According to the Icedogs, further medical treatment revealed that he did not suffer a severed artery, as first suspected.
The Knights will continue to play their scheduled games. They were back in London to face the Sarnia Sting on Friday night at Budweiser Gardens.
“The players were upset (Thursday night),” Knights associate GM Rob Simpson said, “but I think it makes it easier when you know the surgery went well, he’s stable and recovering and is going to be OK.”
The Icedogs-knights contest and Niagara’s postponed weekend games will be rescheduled at a later date.
After assisting in Tynan’s on-ice treatment, London veteran trainer/physiotherapist Doug Stacey praised Niagara’s athletic therapist, Chris Trivieri, for his quick and professional work in leading the response.
“When I got there, he had already located where the wound was and took total charge,” Stacey said. “He did an unbelievable job. He responded immediately, which is exactly what to do. He was calm and said to me that I think we’ve got this controlled, but we need to get access. He directed me right away and that put me at ease.
“We all did our jobs as we added new pieces to the puzzle — the two teams’ physicians and the emergency response team — and I can’t say enough about how Chris and the staff handled everything.”
Five years ago, Stacey was the lead in another leg laceration incident involving Knights goaltender Anthony Stolarz during a game against Saginaw.
“Anthony’s cut was more superficial blood vessels, so it had already stopped bleeding,” the longtime Hockey Canada trainer recalled. “This one (Tynan) was probably a bigger blood vessel and there was still a fair bit of blood. We had to be more aggressive to control the situation. This one was way more medical-oriented.
“You’re not doing a full assessment until you have him stabilized and you want to keep him calm. I just kept telling Tucker these guys are doing a great job and they’ve got everything under control.”
After the first aid, Stacey talked to the London player involved.
“He was pretty distraught about it,” the trainer said. “I walked him through it and the fact that the kid was stable. Even today, the social media showed the surgery went well and he’s already on the road to recovery. Everything ’s going to be OK.”