BY MIKE MASTOVICH
JOHNSTOWN — The Johnstown Chiefs earned an important win on Wednesday night at Cambria County War Memorial Arena.
But after the 6-4 victory over visiting Reading, most thoughts of the players, coaches and fans were on veteran defenseman and captain Mike Knight.
Late in the third period, Knight went head-first into the boards behind the Chiefs net near Section 9.
The collision was violent and left many observers stating that it was one of the most frightening injuries they had seen.
Knight lay face-down on the ice for at least 10 minutes as team physicians and trainers tended to him. He was gently placed on a wooden backboard stretcher and his neck and limbs were stabilized before he was lifted into an ambulance at the Zamboni entrance.
“What happened to Knighter was definitely one of the scariest things I’ve seen,” said second-year Chiefs forward Matt Robinson. “Hopefully he’s OK. We can only pray for him.”
Knight and Reading’s Olivier Labelle were skating hard and jousting with each other as the Chiefs clung to a 4-3 lead. Knight appeared to lose his footing, and his momentum took him helmet-first into the boards. Labelle received a major checking from behind penalty and a game misconduct at 15:49.
The Royals eventually tied the game with a short-handed goal before the Chiefs cashed in twice on the major power play via goals by Connor Shields and Troy Schwab to win.
“It was pretty ugly,” Flanagan said of Knight’s hitting the boards. “He went head first. It wasn’t a malicious hit. They were just going into the board kind of together. The Reading guy was behind Mike. It looked like Mike went to throw a little weight into him and he might have caught his foot. The momentum with him and the other player took him right into the boards. It was not a good thing to watch.”
The Chiefs players gathered near the bench. The arena became quiet.
“It was pretty scary,” Flanagan said. “Some of the guys didn’t know who it was. They were looking at the bench to see who it was. They were hoping for the best, and we still are. We don’t know what the issues are but (assistant coach Jason) Spence and I are going to the hospital to get some news. We had our doctors out there. He was in good hands.”
There was one positive sign.
“He was conscious,” Flanagan said. “When they put him in the ambulance his eyes were open and he was communicating. That was fine. Other than that we have no word.”
