The inconsistent St. Albert Steel lost their best player for the rest of the season on a dangerous hit in Friday’s 4-3 loss to the Drayton Valley Thunder.
At the 10:07 mark in the first period, all-star centre Reed Linaker got bent out of shape by Jayson Ness of the Thunder. Linaker was later carted out of Performance Arena on a stretcher. Ness was penalized five minutes for charging and kicked out of the game. He was also suspended by the Alberta Junior Hockey League for two games.
Linaker will need an operation to fix the MCL and other damaged parts in his right leg.
“I was pretty devastated actually. I just got back from an injury [missed seven games with a lower body ailment] so it kind of sucks,” Linaker told the Gazette Tuesday morning. “Obviously missing the playoffs really sucks but I guess that’s the way she goes.”
Linaker, 19, knew he was a marked man after he hit a Thunder defenceman a few seconds before Ness ended his season.
“I had the puck [in the Thunder end] and I saw him coming in real hard so I just kind of turned to try and protect myself and he just kept on rolling through,” said Linaker, who opened the scoring with his 26th goal and 11th on the power play. “I kind of got my knee caught underneath my chest and it just popped.”
The Steel’s assistant captain was in a world of hurt while whisked away by ambulance.
“I just couldn’t move at all,” he said. “The pain was pretty bad. They had to pump me with morphine.”
Linaker has been fitted with a full leg brace while waiting for a date with the surgeon.
“I’m not having a lot of fun right now,” said the Steel’s third leading scorer, with 52 points in 34 games.
Not having Linaker in the lineup is a big blow for the Steel (25-24-3). They went 2-5 recently with their second-highest point producer in franchise history (82-91-173 in 141 games) sidelined.
After recording one point in three games last weekend, the Steel remain cemented in the seventh and last playoff spot in the north with eight games remaining before the playoffs kick off.
Heading into tonight’s game at Lloydminster against the fifth-place Bobcats (28-23-4), the Steel trail the Border City team by seven points with three games in hand. They are also three points back of the sixth-place Sherwood Park Crusaders (25-22-6) with one less game played.
The Steel failed to gain ground in the standings after losing twice to the last-place Thunder (10-38-7), including a 6-3 decision Sunday in Drayton Valley. They were also edged out 7-6 in overtime by the visiting Calgary Canucks (16-33-5) Saturday, the bottom team in the south division. Their record in the past 10 games is 3-6-1.
A request for attendance totals for games played Friday and Saturday at Performance was not provided by the Steel at press time.
Right-winger Taylor Fraser notched his first hat-trick of the season against Calgary. In league scoring he ranks second in goals with 33 and seventh overall in points with 61 in 52 games.
Defenceman Thomas Ward-Cardinal racked up five assists last weekend, including four helpers against Calgary. Forward Spencer Pommells also picked up four assists in three games.
Defensively the Steel struggled keeping the puck out of the net. Rhys Hadfield (25-20-3, 3.63 GAA) and backup Chris Sharkey (0-4, 5.32 GAA) toiled between the pipes for the fourth-worst defensive team in the AJHL.
The next home game is 7 p.m. Friday against the Okotoks Oilers (40-10-5), the top team in the south.
