Former Edmonton Oilers star Ryan Smyth is recovering at home after he was sent to hospital with a head injury sustained during a senior men’s hockey game on Saturday.
“Smytty” is captain of the Stony Plain Eagles. The senior AAA men’s team was competing against the Lacombe Generals in game one of the Allan Cup Alberta final, when Smyth was elbowed in the head. Eagles team staff believe the hit was deliberate.
“He was coming down the left side of the ice when he cut across across the slot, he released a backhand shot and actually scored the goal,” Stony Plain Eagles head coach Mike Tavaroli said.
“After he released his shot, a Lacombe player was coming down the opposite side of the ice, right wing side, and kinda cut to the middle and then hit Ryan.”
Tavaroli reviewed the play after and said it looked like the opposing player blindsided Smyth, smashing him in the face with his elbow.
The hit resulted in Smyth “lying motionless on the ice in Lacombe as a hush fell over the crowd,” according to a memo general manager Rob Sklaruk posted on Twitter.
“It’s a concern. Everybody is worried any time any player goes down like that,” Tavaroli said. “After a few minutes he was able to, after they did all the checks necessary, get up and was able to get off the ice and into the training room.”
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Smyth was taken to hospital in Edmonton for a CAT scan to check for a head fracture. He also got several stitches on his face.
The opposing player was ejected from the game and suspended indefinitely while the incident is investigated.
“From our standpoint, I believe the player should be suspended for sure for the rest of of this series at at a bare minimum,” Tavaroli said.
“In saying that, I understand that we obviously have a strong opinion because it happened to our player, but in trying to look at it unbiased I do believe that that would be appropriate for sure.”
Smyth is now resting up at his home in Edmonton.
“Thank you all for the well wishes,” Smyth tweeted Sunday night. “I’m home resting with my family & hoping for a speedy recovery. The EMT’s and Eagles staff were amazing.”
It’s not known when Smyth will return to the ice, but Tavaroli is confident #94 won’t be sidelined for long.
“Based on what we’ve heard, I think that the initial thought on how bad it was in terms of injury-wise is not as bad as first feared and so that’s a big relief for everyone.”
The Lacombe Generals posted a tweet wishing Smytty a “quick and speedy recovery.”
The Generals and Eagles face off for game two at 8 p.m. MT Tuesday in Stony Plain.