As Game 7 of Kraken-Avalanche series nears, focus is still on Jordan Eberle’s hit on Andrew Cogliano
DENVER — Kraken forward Jordan Eberle said Sunday he was “concerned” upon hearing that his Game 6 hit on Andrew Cogliano had caused a fracture in his onetime teammate’s neck that’s now knocked him out of the remainder of the playoffs.
Eberle, who received a two-minute minor penalty for boarding on the play and was not suspended by the league, said “it’s a fast game out there” and he wasn’t trying to injure the Colorado Avalanche forward. The hit on Cogliano, 35, who returned for the third period of Friday’s contest and wasn’t diagnosed with the fractured C5 lamina in his cervical spine until after returning to Denver on Saturday, has become a major subplot to a series that plays a decisive Game 7 on Sunday night.
“I mean, honestly the game, it’s really fast,” Eberle said. “I mean, the puck’s coming up the wall and I just went in and tried to make a play. It’s tough when the puck is moving that fast and the game is — especially in a playoff game.
“And then obviously, when the play ends up in an injury it’s always unfortunate,” he added. “I was happy to see him back in the third and then obviously you hear he’s hurt the next day and it’s tough. But for me, it’s just trying to play hockey and I think everyone knows the way I play. I’m obviously never trying to hurt anybody.”
Nonetheless, Avalanche fans are understandably in an uproar over the lack of any suspension given Colorado’s ordinarily mild-mannered, Norris Trophy winning defender Cale Makar was suspended one game after a Game 4 hit on Jared McCann knocked the Kraken’s 40-goal man out of the series with what’s assumed to be a concussion. McCann again did not travel with the Kraken to Game 7 and any time frame for his return should the Kraken advance to the next round against Dallas has yet to be announced.
Those fans are expected to give Eberle a rough ride throughout Sunday’s game, similar to how Kraken fans booed Makar whenever he touched the puck the remainder of Game 4 and again in Game 6 after he’d served his suspension. The hit and anticipated reception for Eberle has only added to the drama surrounding a series steeped in controversy on and off the ice with a second-year Kraken team poised to eliminate the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Advertising
Eberle was asked Sunday whether he was surprised the NHL’s Department of Player Safety did not request a hearing over his hit given that’s what happened to Makar.
“Honestly, that’s out of my control,” Eberle responded. “I’m just trying to play hockey and like I said before it’s obviously unfortunate when a guy gets hurt — especially a guy you know. But as far as player safety, that’s out of my control. I can’t really focus on that.”
Eberle declined to say whether he’d spoken to Cogliano since the injury diagnosis although he did send him a text at some point after the game. The two played together during Eberle’s rookie 2010-11 season in Edmonton and also attended the same Oilers training camps for two preseasons prior.
Cogliano was in the Avalanche locker room Sunday morning and was seen walking out of the arena as his team began its morning skate. He was to have a follow-up MRI later in the day.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar confirmed the injury in his post-skate media session, saying he’d assumed Cogliano was ready to play Game 7 until he began experiencing further neck pain on the team’s charter flight back to Denver on Saturday.
Further tests revealed the fracture.
Bednar had said postgame Friday he felt Eberle should be suspended and added Sunday that news of the extent of Cogliano’s injury didn’t add to his feelings one way or the other.
Advertising
“It’s not supposed to matter — it’s not about the injury,” he said of criteria for suspensions. “I mean, I don’t like the hit. From 5-years-old, you’re wearing stop signs on your back on every (youth hockey) jersey.
“I mean, it’s numbers the whole way and he doesn’t really ease off of him,” he said of players being taught not to bodycheck from behind when they can see an opponent’s jersey number. “So, to me it’s like — there’s more than one type of suspension hit, right? There’s the predatory hit where a guy goes after someone from distance and hits him dirty, or whatever. But there’s also, in my opinion anyway in watching and coaching this game — if we’re going to protect the players, there’s also bad decisions. Sometimes, they are split second and sometimes they take a little bit longer.
“Cale Makar for one. I don’t think he’s trying to take a run at McCann or hurt McCann but the reality of it is he made the decision to finish him and there’s no puck there. So, it’s a suspension. It is. And I think this one’s the same way. His back’s turned and he might be thinking he’s going to turn so he can hit him clean. But he doesn’t turn. So, it’s a bad decision.”
Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said you “never want to hear” the type of announcement made on Cogliano. When asked whether he agreed a suspension wasn’t warranted, Hakstol replied: “To sit here and debate it in front of everybody kind of turns it into a side show and I don’t want it to be that. I hate to see that Andrews’s injured. It’s a fast play in tight spaces on the wall and he went in awkwardly. And I hate to see the end result of that.”
Colorado response
The reaction to Cogliano’s injury in the Avalanche locker room was multifaceted — admiration, relief, regret.
“It’s a dagger, man,” Makar said. “Cogs is the heart and soul of this group.
Advertising
“That’s such a scary injury, too. Any lower and he probably could have been paralyzed. It’s a really unfortunate one.”
Makar was suspended one game following the hit on McCann, while Eberle didn’t get a hearing. Makar declined to comment on the discrepancy beyond a few words.
“It’s all subjective,” he said.
“It’s over and done with now.”
Though his return was, in retrospect, dangerous — and if the team had known the severity of the injury, Cogliano hopefully never would have seen the ice — this is another wild tale of playing through Stanley Cup playoffs injuries.
“It just shows how much of a warrior he is,” Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon said. “He played a playoff game with a broken neck. Crazy.
“Scary, for sure — scary that he had to do that, and he did that. It’s a testament of how amazing of a person (and) teammate he is. We’re going to miss him, just like we miss everyone else.”
The Avalanche were relatively healthy heading into the playoffs, a rare occurrence this season. Captain Gabriel Landeskog was ruled out because of knee issues that have cost him the entire season. But Cogliano joins a list of injured that has grown over the past six games to include Darren Helm and Josh Manson. Val Nichushkin left the team for personal reasons.
Sponsored
Neutral-zone upgrade
One improvement from Game 6 Hakstol pointed to — the Avalanche were too comfortable crossing the blue line into the neutral zone.
“It was a bit of a highway at times, flying through,” he said. “We’ll have to do a much better job. Their pace coming through the neutral zone was pretty good.
The first period was fine, Seattle’s coach reasoned, but as his players started streaming to the penalty box, the problems started.
“We spent a lot of energy killing six minutes of penalties in the second period,” he said. “All of the sudden now you’re trying to play with a high pace, with a high level of intensity, with fatigue as a factor.”
Source: The Seattle Times
