Kootenay Injury or Ice or Injury?

[Reg Dunlop]

The Kootenay Ice honestly should be sponsered by band aid brand band aids. With almost more players injured than healthy it is sad to say the journey down the yellow brick road is only going to get bumpier. With McNabb and Paulsen added to a large list of already wounded in battle one can only be a little optimistic and wishful that Czerwonka and Machacek play on Saturday against the Rebels. If not the Ice Brass may find themselves having to go down to the local water tower and find some drunks to huck some equipment on to fill roster spots.

With all the injuries it must even make it harder for the coach. (who runs his *Line* like a guy playing NHL 10 on playstation with the line changes off) to decide who to play. I have never seen a stupider thing as a coach in my life but we won't name names we will just say coach. No matter how bad his top line plays. Or how good others play. He keeps playing the same line over and over and over again.vc124 There must be this new technique to develop our young stars and future of a building franchise by making them sit on the bench and watch the 19 and 20 year olds. It must be one of those telepathic methods like those weirdos do on TV that read your future:rolleyes:

I like how Brenden Hurley gets rewarded for a kick ass game Friday against the Wheat Kings by warming the bench on Sunday against a joke of a team Seattle. Or how Skrudland has a kick ass shift the only one I seen him play by sitting on the bench 30 seconds later for the rest of the game. Now then again I don't know all that goes on down at Ice level. For all we know these players could of told the coach to F off or broken team rules in some way. I mean looking at the way the team lines are ran most of the players must be doing something wrong we are not seeing:confused:

Injured Ice Players:
Nathan Lieuwen
Christian Magnus
Brayden McNabb
Luke Paulsen
Drew Czerwonka
Matt Fraser
Cason Machacek

Lets hope for a speedy recovery for these playersclrkthj

[In the crowd]

I was at practice today for a bit, Magnus was wearing the yellow, but Czerwonka and Machacek were in regular colors, so that must mean they'll be back in the line up for sure this weekend. I also believe they had Mackenzie Skapski in net, who was a 15 year old stand out at camp this year, I thought.

[In the crowd]

It must have been Kevin Jacyna in net that I saw, not Skapski.

[Reg Dunlop]

Kootenay @ Red Deer Game #19
The ICE are in Red Deer tonight to play the Rebels in the first half of a home and home series.
Rematch is tomorrow at the Rec-Plex.
The Rebels beat the ICE 7-1 in Red Deer in their only meeting this season.
For the first time this season the ICE have won 2 games in a row and are coming off their first shutout win of the season.
On the road the ICE have lost 3 in a row and 5 of their last 6.
8 of the last 9 Rebels' games have been at home and have a record of 5-3-0-0 in those games at the Centrium.
ICE should have a full line-up even though Brayden McNabb and Like Paulsen got injured in their last game.
Drew Czerwonka and Cason Machacek will return to the line-up. Machacek missed 6 games and Czerwonka hasn't played since September 23rd.
Steele Boomer leads the ICE with 6 goals (tied with the injured Matt Fraser) and in points with 18.
Rebels' rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has a team best 10 goals.
Willie Coetzee is amung the league leaders with 29 points.
Pre-Game is at 7 on The Drive.

source: http://jeffhollick.blogspot.com/


ICE Welcome Back 2 Players
Defenseman Cason Machacek, who missed 6 games to a concussion, and forward Drew CZerwonka, who was sidelined for 15 games with a leg laceration, will both play against Red Deer this weekend.
That leaves 5 players unavailable - Brayden McNabb (4-6 weeks), Luke Paulsen (2-4 weeks), Matt Fraser (2-4 weeks), Nathan Lieuwen (indefinite) and Christian Magnus (1 week).
Magnus feels he could return on November 11th.
For the weekend 16-year-old list player Kevin Jacyna (Calgary) will be the back-up goalie. Jacyna is a big goalie who earned a spot on the ICE list with a really strong training camp.

Source: http://jeffhollick.blogspot.com/

Neat to know. Going to try to listen to the game on the radio and will be excited to see the game on Saturday at the rec plexclrkthj The one thing about the ice they tend to mold their game to the level of who they play against no matter how good or how bad:confused:

[Reg Dunlop]

Czerwonka concedes injury has hurt statistics

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November 6, 2009

Matt Coxford

After scoring 16 goals in his rookie campaign, Drew Czerwonka is not pleased that he has only one goal so far in his sophomore season.

As his team enters a weekend home-and-home series with the Red Deer Rebels, he’s only too aware the Kootenay Ice are playing their 19th and 20th games, and he last scored in their first.

“I haven’t been finding the back of the net lately,” Czerwonka sighed, before yesterday’s practice. “I guess that comes with hard work, and I have to pick it up, get some goals.”

He had been training like a sports reporter lately, avoiding the gym for weeks on end.

His ice time has gotten to the point that he’s been all but invisible come game time.

“Well, (head coach Mark Holick) rewards guys with how they play, and I guess I haven’t played well lately so I can’t be mad about that,” said Czerwonka, who has no assists to go with that goal.

When pressed on the matter, Czerwonka granted that his lack of production — and gym time — might have something to do with the “slight issue” of him suffering a gruesome leg injury and having been shelved since Game 3.

Yep, that’s probably it.

He can joke about it because, starting tonight in Red Deer, his time on the injury reserve will just be a bad memory. The 17-year-old power forward will step into a Western Hockey League game for the first time since Sept. 23.

Czerwonka got hurt — and how — against the Edmonton Oil Kings, when Drew Nichol’s skate blade sliced his calf.

Czerwonka didn’t get a good look at the fresh wound, let alone feel it as it happened.

“I couldn’t see, but if I would have seen it I probably would have passed out,” he said, with a chuckle. “The best thing was probably not to look at it. When it first happened, it just felt like a little sting. Then Garry (Hansen, equipment manager) noticed that it was bleeding pretty bad. That’s when it started hurting.”

The injury tested the absorbent powers of the new Reebok Edge socks, and they performed admirably.

“Once I got in the dressing room, they cut my sock off and it was just covered in blood and my shin pad was all bloody. They bandaged it all up and got me hospital as quick as possible.”

The skate blade had cut through 20 per cent of his tendon, but after lots of stitches and 20 staples, his wound has healed nicely.

He got back on the ice last Wednesday, but was only allowed to coast to a stop. Hard-turning stops didn’t enter the repertoire until this week.

“It’s going to be hard getting back into it: I haven’t played in a long time,” he said. “It’s hard sitting in the stands watching the guys, but I’m ready to go and excited to be back this quick. It could have been longer.”

Czerwonka was something of a trendsetter along with Christian Magnus, who broke his finger in practice the week leading up to Drew’s slicing. Since then, there’s been a parade to the injury reserve, including last weekend’s defensive additions: Brayden McNabb (4-6 weeks, knee) and Luke Paulsen (2-4 weeks, ankle).

“We were joking about who’d get back first. I’m going to beat (Magnus) back, so he’s kind of mad about that,” Czerwonka said, noting there was no wager made. “The reward is being out there and getting to play first.”

Seeing friends and teammates like Matt Fraser and Nathan Lieuwen go down to injury was no joke to Czerwonka.

“I feel for them,” he said. “It’s not easy getting hurt and having to sit out. There’s not much we can do about that. At least we’re getting it out of the way now, and everyone will be ready for the second half of the season,” he said. “It doesn’t seem like much more can go wrong.”

Many happy returns

There have been other glimmers of hope on the injury front: one of them, Lieuwen, was scheduled to arrive by plane last night. The goaltender was diagnosed with a migraine, and not a potentially career-ending concussion as had earlier been feared.

He will be in practice on Monday.

“It’s better than everybody originally thought,” said head coach Mark Holick. “He’s been cleared to play, and I don’t think he’s at any more risk at this time than anybody else.”

Ice goaltending prospect Kevin Jacyna joined the WHL club on Tuesday. He’s been practicing with them since, and will back up both games this weekend.

Cason Machacek, meanwhile, will return to active duty tonight. The defenceman had missed six games with a concussion, but has been symptom free for a week.

“I’ve been skating and exercising, and the head’s been pretty good,” said the Lethbridge native, noting his conditioning is just fine, thanks to assistant coach Kris Knoblauch.

“Knobber’s been skating us pretty hard after practice, so that’s been helping out staying in game shape. I’ve been working hard in the gym lately, so that’s good.”

Maybe Machacek was inspired by the work ethic of Chris Chelios who, at 47, recently became a teammate of his brother Spencer on the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

“(Spencer) said Chris is a really nice guy, a real fitness fanatic. Apparently he rides his stationary bike in the sauna to cut weight,” said Machacek, who doesn’t plan on adding that to his own fitness regimen.

While training is good, it’s no replacement for game time. Holick said he’s looking forward to getting experienced players like Czerwonka and Machacek back on the ice, even if their timing is off.

“We’ll see how it goes, but they’ll be thrown right into the fire,” said the coach. “There’s no easing anybody in here right now. If you’re dressing a short lineup, everybody is going to play, and play a lot.”

He well remembers Czerwonka’s offensive upside, and wouldn’t mind if he chipped in with the Ice scoring just 2.61 goals per game.

“In the same respect, he hasn’t played in 15 games so there will be some rust to knock off the gloves. But if he keeps it simple and plays a physical style of hockey, he’ll contribute,” said Holick. <snip>

http://www.dailytownsman.com/article/20091106/CRANBROOK0201/311069961/-1/cranbrook/czerwonka-concedes-injury-has-hurt-statistics