Tragedy averted in SJHL playoff game Quick-acting trainers stabilize Flin Flon captain after arm slashed in collision with opponent By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Tuesday, Apr. 18, 2023

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This article was published 18/04/2023 (873 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mike Reagan has seen more than his share of injuries in 21 years as a player and now general manager and head coach of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Flin Flon Bombers.

Even a lifetime in the game could not prepare Reagan for the bone-chilling moment, 10 minutes into Game 1 of the SJHL final Friday night, when Bombers captain Lucas Fry collided with a Battlefords North Stars player and went down in a heap.

The 20-year-old defenceman from Winnipeg got up holding his right arm, already bleeding profusely. An errant skate blade had sliced nerves and the radial tendon and artery just above his wrist.

“You just never know how something like that will go, right?” said Reagan by phone from Flin Flon Tuesday morning. “It was a scary moment for sure.”

Fortunately, quick-acting trainers from both clubs tended to the wound and a doctor at the Battlefords arena was summoned. Ten minutes later an ambulance arrived to whisk Fry to hospital where his condition was stabilized.

“It was a lot of blood,” said Fry. “It was almost like the blood was shooting up rather than kind of just leaking out. Honestly, instead of pain or anything it was more just shock like, ‘Holy crap, I’ve never seen this before.’

“I remember it all but it was all a little bit of a blur.”

The game, halted with the score 1-1 in the first period, resumed and the host North Stars took command, scoring again before the intermission and adding three more goals on the shell-shocked Bombers en route to a 5-2 triumph. Battlefords also registered a 3-0 win in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series Saturday night.

“It was a lot of blood. It was almost like the blood was shooting up rather than kind of just leaking out. Honestly, instead of pain or anything it was more just shock like, ‘Holy crap, I’ve never seen this before.’ ”–Lucas Fry

“It was tough, for sure, to get back into it,” said Reagan. “I can only imagine what the players were thinking. They’re younger — 18-, 19- and 20-year-old guys — and me being in my 40s, that was mentally challenging for myself… We did our best to put that behind us but we definitely weren’t at our best Friday night.

“Saturday night, I thought we were pretty good. We lost 3-0 but I would say that a majority of the play, we had dictated a lot of it and had some really good chances we just didn’t capitalize on. Right now, our power play is struggling and that’s been the difference.”

The good news is Fry had surgery to repair the damage to his arm in Saskatoon the next day. Unfortunately, he appears unlikely to play again this season.

Trailing 2-0 in the final series, Flin Flon needs to mount a comeback to win the series and earn a trip to the Centennial Cup, the national junior A championship slated for Portage la Prairie, May 11-21.

“I’d like to be optimistic and maybe think that if the guys could pull through and win this series, maybe I’d have a chance of playing again this year,” said Fry, who will meet with his surgeon in two weeks to further map out his recovery plan.

“We’re still a super confident group. We’re not worried at all and I honestly think that in some ways this (injury) happening, it just gives the guys a little bit more fire, a little bit more passion and a little bit more heart to play with.”

The task ahead promises to be arduous. The North Stars were the SJHL’s top team during the regular season, posting a 48-5-2-1 record. Flin Flon went 37-15-2-2 and finished 21 points behind Battlefords in the overall standings.

“They’ve had an unbelievable year,” said Reagan. “To go the first half of the year without a regulation loss is pretty impressive and I think they were ranked No. 1 in Canada 90 per cent of the year so they’ve had a phenomenal season. They’re definitely a tough team.”

The Bombers, who host games 3 and 4 at the Whitney Forum on Friday and Saturday, are a battle-tested bunch. Last season, Flin Flon rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Battlefords in a first-round series and also trailed 2-0 in the league final to the Estevan Bruins before forcing Game 7.

“We’ve been in this position before,” said Reagan. “It’s not ideal, that’s for sure. But you know, we’ve got a pretty resilient group and I like to think that we’ve got guys that are capable of doing it. We’ve got 10 guys from last year’s team and so they were through that twice last year and and hopefully that experience pays off.”

Something good may come of Fry’s injury. Reagan is pressing for additional safety measures to help prevent skate cuts in the future.

“We’ve already looked into shirts with Kevlar in the sleeves for next year for our guys,” said Reagan. “That’s something that I presented to the league (Monday).”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca