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The Soo Greyhounds will be without a key piece of the roster on the ice for considerable time.
Forward Tanner Dickinson has suffered a broken right femur, an injury he sustained during Saturday night’s 4-3 overtime win over the Barrie Colts at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
With 11:28 to go in the game, Dickinson was chasing the play into the Barrie zone and, as he approached the bottom of the left faceoff circle, he was pushed by Colts forward Ethan Cardwell and crashed into the end boards, colliding with another Colts player – defenceman Connor Punnett – in the process.
Dickinson remained down and was tended to by Greyhounds athletic therapist Julian Cooper along with members of the Colts medical staff as well before paramedics in the building brought a stretcher onto the ice.
The 19-year-old was then taken to Sault Area Hospital for further treatment.
In an update on Dickinson’s condition posted on the Greyhounds website Sunday, general manager Kyle Raftis said the veteran forward is expected to miss “a significant amount of time.”
“We haven’t even talked about how long he’ll be out,” Raftis added. “There are a lot of ranges with all of that stuff and he’s not even out of the hospital yet.”
Raftis called watching the play happen “tough to see.”
“You’re sick to your stomach watching it,” he also said. “He’s put so much time into his hockey and through no fault of his own, he takes a dirty hit and is in a lot of pain. It’s definitely tough to see someone like Tanner go through something like that.”
Both coaches spoke at length about the injury following the game.
“All I can think about is Tanner and hoping that he’s ok,” Greyhounds coach John Dean said, who was visibly emotional while speaking to reporters about the injury.
Colts general manager/coach Marty Williamson said, “we feel horrible.”
“It’s a young star in our league,” Williamson added. “You don’t like to see anything happen to players like that, whether it’s our team or their team. It’s just a bad situation.”
Cardwell was given a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct on the play and has been suspended by the league.
The suspension length is still to be determined.
Dickinson signed with the Greyhounds as a free agent in the spring of 2019, deciding to pass on an opportunity to play hockey at Ohio State University for the chance to jump into the OHL.
In his first season with the Greyhounds, Dickinson scored nine goals and 40 points in 64 games.
This season, Dickinson eclipsed those totals in just 35 games with 19 goals and 47 points.
A draft pick of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, Dickinson signed an entry level contract with the club in the fall.