Penguins Orpik leaves hospital, travels back to Pittsburgh with team

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik, the victim of a brutal assault on the part of Boston Bruins' Shawn Thornton that left him unconscious on the ice, has been released from Mass General Hospital and was able to travel back to Pittsburgh with his teammates.

Thornton was issued a match penalty and will be meeting with league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan.  The match penalty carries an automatic one game suspension, so Thornton will not be traveling to Toronto tonight with the rest of the team.

Obviously, I made a mistake, I'm aware of it. I've been told they're having a hearing and it's hard for me to say much more than that. It was not my intention. I feel awful. I felt sick all game. - Boston Bruins forward Shawn Thornton

Orpik was targeted by Thornton in retaliation for Orpik's blindside floor check on Bruins' forward Loui Eriksson, knocking Eriksson from the game with a concussion.

During a stoppage in play, Orpik and Penguins defenseman Chris Letang were engaged in a scrum with Bruins' center Gregory Campbell when Thronton skated up from behind, threw Orpik to the ice and pummeled him twice with his fist, knocking him unconscious.

As the referees worked to separate the two skaters and to keep other scrums from developing, Letang and Left wing Jussi Jokinen motioned fervently at the bench for the trainers to come out an attend to Orpik, who was eventually taken from the ice on a stretcher.

The Penguins lost the game as well, giving up two goals to the Bruins in the final 1:31 for a 3-2 final score.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/penguins-orpik-leaves-hospital-travels.html

Bruins' Eriksson diagnosed with a concussion; Kelly shelved as well

Boston Bruins' Loui Eriksson has been diagnosed with a concussion, the result of a brutal blindside floor check from Pittsburgh Penguins' defenseman Brooks Orpik.

Eriksson has a concussion. #Bruins
— DJ Bean (@DJ_Bean) December 8, 2013

Eriksson left the Bruins' game just 21 seconds into the game Orpik skating up behind the Bruins' right winger, launching himself just as Eriksson was turning to his left, the resulting collision pancaked Eriksson to the ice.

He was able to make it back to the bench on his own power during the stop in play when captain Zdeno Chara came to his defense - cross checking Orpik while trying to goad him into fisticuffs - but Eriksson seemed dazed as he sat, so the training staff escorted him to the locker room for evaluation.

Also injured was center Chris Kelly, who was the victim of a slash:

Kelly not traveling with Bruins either. Injured on a slash. #Bruins
— DJ Bean (@DJ_Bean) December 8, 2013

Not much information available on the Kelly injury, but he will not be traveling to Toronto, nor will Eriksson, nor will Shawn Thornton - but that's another story..

These injuries will be updated when word becomes available.

Penguins' Orpik "awake and conscious" at Mass General

A scrum started in the Pittsburgh zone...

Boston's Gregory Campbell was engaged with two Penguins in the left circle, defensemen Chris Letang and Brooks Orpik, three referees wedged between the combatants, when Boston's Shawn Thornton skated up behind Orpik, grabbed him by the collar and pulled him backwards onto the ice.

Just 20 seconds into the game, Orpik had laid out Bruins' forward Loui Eriksson with a vicious blindside body check on open ice - only Zdeno Chara seeming to have issue with it at the time, but Thornton's unsuccessful attempt at goading Orpik into fisticuffs suggested he wanted a piece of him in retaliation...

...but Orpik wouldn't bite, and what happened next was Thornton letting his frustration and anger get the best of him, straddling the prone and defenseless Orpik and ripping the defenseman with two successive right fists to the head, the first one dazing Orpik, the second finishing him off before Thornton was pulled off of the now unconscious Orpik.


Pittsburgh players immediately started waving frantically toward the medical staff who came onto the ice and called for the stretcher at once - Orpik was carefully rolled onto a backboard and immobilized and Thornton was escorted off the ice.

Orpik was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where the Penguins released a status that read simply:

Brooks Orpik taken to Mass General Hospital where he is "alert" and "conscious." Good news for the Boston College guy #BruinsTalk
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) December 8, 2013

Thornton faces automatic suspension for receiving a match penalty - there has been no word on Eriksson's status, so this blog will update this article when a status on either is given.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/penguins-orpik-awake-and-conscious-at.html

Bruins' Eriksson leaves early, Marshand and Orpik follow in ugly fracas

Boston Bruins' forward Loui Eriksson left the Bruins' game against the Pittsburgh Penguins just :21 in after taking a huge floor check from defenseman Brooks Orpik that pancaked Eriksson to the ice.

Eriksson was able to make it back to the bench on his own power during the stop in play when captain Zdeno Chara came to his defense, cross checking Orpik while trying to goad Orpik into fisticuffs, but seemed dazed as he sat, so the training staff escorted him to the locker room for evaluation.

Eriksson, who give up about 25 pounds to the rugged Orpik, was blindsided by the otherwise clean body shot.

With the score tied  at 1-1, and ugly fracas began when Pittsburgh forward James Neal thrust a knee into the head of Brad Marchand who was in a prone position on the ice.  Marchand spun on his knees and fell to his face, but before play could be stopped, a scrum started in the Pittsburgh zone...

Boston's Shawn Thornton skating into the scrum and, seeming to target Orpik, yanked the defensman to the ice and punched him in the head twice, knocking him cold.

Pittsburgh players immediately started waving frantically toward the medical staff who came onto the ice and called for the stretcher at once.

Thornton received a match penalty, and is most likely looking at a lengthy suspension.  More on the status of all players involved as word becomes available.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/bruins-eriksson-leaves-early-marshand.html

Bruins' McQuaid, Boychuk out against Penguins; will make road trip

'Tis the season for defensemen to be on the shelf.

Per Joe Haggerty at CSNNE.com the Boston Bruins' injured blue liners Adam McQuaid and Johnny Boychuck will be accompanying the team on their protracted road trip through Canada, though neither will play on Saturday night when the Bruins host the Pittsburgh Penguins - nor in the first stop on the roadie at Toronto.

Both Boychuk & McQuaid set to take long road trip w/Bruins as JB55 rides bike less than 48 hrs after Pacioretty hit http://t.co/Ee8AFryGKO
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) December 7, 2013

Boychuck, of course, is dealing with what is being classified as a "sprained back", the result of taking a hard check on the end boards in Boston's 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, while McQuaid is suffering from a flare up of a chronic groin injury sustained early in the season.

McQuaid has been limited to 18 games this thus far, logging nearly 16 minutes per game when he does play and has 3 points to go along with a team-high 39 penalty minutes while rating a plus-seven.

Boychuk also has dealt with back issues this season prior to the trauma suffered on Thursday night, which evolved into a medical emergency when the rugged defenseman with the wicked bombs from the blue line experienced difficulty breathing and the back locked up on him immediately after the hit.

As horrifying as the episode looked, Boychuk was able to fly back to Boston with his teammates, and even found a way to put their fears at ease.

He was even joking around about on the bus right after the game in Montreal, but that’s just who Johnny is. I thought it was the pain meds, but I was wrong. That was just Johnny being Johnny. - Bruins' defenseman Matt Bartkowski

Boychuk's time table for return is slated to be anywhere from three to seven days, though the situation is fluid depending on how the back responds to treatment and rest.  He has notched six points and rates a plus-eight while logging just over twenty minutes per game in the 27 contests he played in this season.

Lightning lose prospect Johnathan Drouin to possible concussion

Halifax Mooseheads' scoring prodigy and Tampa Bay Lightning top prospect Johnathan Drouin is suffering from concussion-like symptoms after Quebec Remparts' Adam Erne cross checked him into the bench-side dashers on Friday night.

Ironically, Both Drouin and Erne are top entry draft picks of the Lightning and both assigned to teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.  Drouin was selected 3rd overall in the entry draft, and Erne 33rd.

Should make for some interesting conversation behind closed doors with Lightning management.

Erne is proving to be a hot head and cheap shot artist and is in line for his second suspension of the year, the first coming during the preseason as the result of an illegal check to the head of St. Louis Blues Vladimir Sobotka, for which Erne received three games.

Erne is accusing Drouin of embellishment on the play, further adding to his already shaky reputation, but as the video below shows, it would have been tough for Drouin to have taken a dive:


Erne, who earlier knocked Halifax defenseman Matt Murphy from the contest with a clean should-to-shoulder check, received a game misconduct for the hit, a call on which he disagrees:

He wasn’t far from the boards and I pushed him pretty hard, I thought it was a dive and I thought everybody else did, too. I wouldn’t have even gotten a penalty if he didn’t dive into the boards. - Adam Erne

Regardless of Erne's claim, the incident could have major reprecussions for both the United States and Canada in regard to their rosters for the World Junior Championships, for which tryouts for both invitees is to begin early next week.

Drouin will be evaluated on Saturday.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/lightning-lose-prospect-johnathan.html

Update: Pavel Datsyuk to return to ice for Red Wings on Tuesday

Detroit Red Wings' coach Ken Holland announced that leading goal scorer Pavel Datsyuk will be able to return to the ice for Tuesday nights' road game against the Florida Panthers.

MLive.com reported on Wednesday that Datsyuk acknowledged that he was symptom free and starting to skate with the team in practice, but needed to meet with team doctors to get an accurate feel for when he might return to game action, but that skating is doing wonders for his body and psyche.

It helps a lot when I skate with team, pick up speed and everything, then I come back faster.  But I’m not doing it in one week. Trying to be safe. Need to come back in shape. - Pavel Datsyuk

The veteran center is a minute-eater for the Red Wings, logging more ice time per game than anyone else on the team besides defenseman Johnathan Ericsson, and has 23 points in the 24 games that he's played this season.

Barring any setbacks, Datsyuk will have missed seven games due to a concussion suffered in Ottawa two weeks ago when he took an elbow to the chin from Senators' defenseman Jared Cowen.

The following is the text from the original report:

Pavel Datsyuk missed his second straight game on Wednesday night, as his Detroit Red Wings beat down the Boston Bruins.

The Red Wings are not calling his head injury a concussion, but after Datsyuk took an elbow from Ottawa's Jared Cowen on Saturday night - a cheap shot that teammate Henrik Zetterberg felt deserved some sort of punishment from the league - Detroit General Manager Ken Holland suggested that the eleven-year NHL veteran was experiencing concussion-like symptoms.

"After the game he felt, I don't know the word, but he wasn't quite right," Holland said. "We're going through the protocol, see how he feels in the next day or two." Holland also noted that Datsyuk said that he felt "fuzzy."

Datsyuk is the leading goal scorer for the Red Wings, and second in points on the team to Zetterberg, who made his displeasure known to the Detroit Free Press in regard to the elbow that layed his friend low - as well as the league's decision not to punish Cowen - is playing the waiting game along with everyone else, as Datsyuk remains listed as day-to-day.

"He's not 100%," Zetterberg said. "We've just got to wait until he is."

Holland indicated that the team has adopted the cautious approach. "Until he is symptom-free for a few days, he won't play," Holland said.

The Red Wings sit at 12-7-7 on the season, their 31 points three shy of Atlantic division leading Boston Bruins, and have games upcoming at the New York Rangers on Friday and Ottawa on Sunday - which should be interesting given the circumstances.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/update-pavel-datsyuk-to-return-to-ice.html