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AHL Player Garrett Klotz Injured In Fight
by Paul on 01/23/09 at 09:13 PM ET
Comments (8)
from the National Post,
An American Hockey League player was taken off the ice on a stretcher Friday night following a brutal fight at the beginning of a game between the Philadelphia Phantoms and Manchester Monarchs.
After the opening faceoff, Phantoms forward Garrett Klotz engaged Monarchs forward Kevin Westgarth in a tussle that left Klotz bloodied and dazed.
The two skaters fought with their helmets off in the lengthy battle.
According the The Sports Network, Klotz was hit with an uppercut that caught him off guard and Westgarth continued with a pair of pin-point rights, the latter sending Klotz to the ice.
Klotz — on his way down to the ice — appeared to land awkwardly on the boards. The Sports Network reports that Klotz’s knees were shaking uncontrollably and his eyes rolled to the back of his head as the stretcher quickly made its way toward the injured player.
If you have any more information on this, please leave a comment.
added 1/24/09, TSN has video. Also, one of those types of fights that I feel need to be banned. A fight for the sake of fighting, right after the puck was dropped.
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, Minor League | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Garrett+Klotz,
Comments
According to a post on hockey-fights.com, Klotz suffered facial lacerations and a seizure, but is at a local hospital awake and alert.
Posted by JDJ from Upstate NY on 01/23/09 at 09:35 PM ET
That is good to hear, thanks to both of you.
I was just about to email Singer at HF, so no need for that now.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 01/23/09 at 09:38 PM ET
From what i saw on tv, the fight was infront of the Monarchs bench and when Westgarth got the money shot in fight it look like Klotz’s knee buckled and wind up hitting the top bench boards and then went down into seizure.
Posted by FlyersFan on 01/23/09 at 10:00 PM ET
Flyers GM after the game on Comcast Philly that their is no structure damage to his face and he’s getting stiched up and he should be fine.
Posted by FlyersFan on 01/23/09 at 10:14 PM ET
SportsNite’s highlight package had a little update. He was taken to Pennsylvania Hospital and Paul Holmgren said there were no facial or tooth fractures, only a few stitches. Holmgren also said the doctor said he was clear, so it looks like the seizure may not have further ramifications.
Posted by FlyerCub on 01/23/09 at 10:20 PM ET
I saw the fight live, happened right off the face off… klotz was winning the fight, landing all the punches, but not hurting westgarth at all…. westgarth is one of the hardest hitters in hockey so i knew it wouldnt end well… but i had no idea. Live on TV they couldnt know what they were showing, which at the time i thought was murder. No Joke. I love the phantoms, actually met klotz, and when i saw his face i almost puked. First, i thought it was a KO, not a bad thing, maybe good for klotz because hes 20 and needs to get hit hard to know if he can make it. Then he started to shake. The camera man didnt know any better, so he zoomed in on his face. Straight out of a horror movie, klotzs head was shaking back and forth uncontrollably. With blood coming out of his wide open, but slack mouth, his eyes started fluttering. His eyes where shooting back and forth while at the same time rolling back into his head. It also looked like all the light and life had left them. Personally i thought he was convulsing the last of his life away, or that he would at least be severly brain damaged. His head didnt hit anything as far as i could tell, it just seemed like a freak accident, which i suppose it was because hes fine. When he stopped shaking, i thought he was dead. I think they even covered his face when they wheeled him off the ice. I was shaking… and before the game i was starving and praying my dinner would be done before it started. Not only couldnt i eat, but it was hard to sleep even after knowing he was fine. that image of his face will haunt me forever. My prayers go out to Klotz and his family.
Posted by Brendan from Philadelphia on 01/24/09 at 10:09 PM ET
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This happens to be the first local Phantoms TV broadcast of the year, so I’d keep an eye out at CSNPhilly.com to see if they post a clip. I missed the start of the telecast and didn’t tune in until they were loading Klotz onto the stretcher. The update so far from the broadcast is that he was responsive and suffered a facial laceration in addition to the seizure from the fight.
Posted by FlyerCub on 01/23/09 at 09:35 PM ET