On Sunday, while Hockey Day in America was being celebrated, there was a very scary scene that unfolded during an AHL game between the Springfield Falcons and the Adirondack Phantoms.
Wade MacLeod of the Falcons was hit by Phantoms forward Brandon Manning and everything seemed fine at first. Nearly 30 seconds passed before MacLeod started skating towards the bench, collapsed onto the ice and then started suffering convulsions. Medical staff rushed to MacLeod’s aid and quickly got him into an ambulance and off to the hospital.
The Falcons released this statement after the game:
Springfield Falcons forward Wade MacLeod was stable and alert after suffering a seizure following a hit into the glass during the second period of Sunday afternoon’s game against the Adirondack Phantoms.
MacLeod was brought by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. Players and coaching staffs on each team unanimously agreed to postpone the game.
Information on MacLeod’s status and a rescheduled game date will be announced when available on FalconsAHL.com.
Manning was assessed a two-minute minor for boarding on the play and took to Twitter to apologize.
There is no scheduled date for when the game will be made up, but because both teams agreed to suspend play, the Falcons will not be assessed a forfeiture, since they were losing at the time. According to the Puck Daddy Blog:
The AHL told Yahoo! Sports on Sunday that there hasn’t been an AHL game that suspended play for at least the last decade. (UPDATE: Michael Cignoli found a 2009 game stopped after 20 minutes for bad ice.)
This was obviously a horrific incident and it must have been terrible to witness. I feel bad for Manning because he obviously wasn’t trying to hurt MacLeod when he hit him, and it must bother him knowing that his hit caused the scary incident. Hopefully MacLeod will make a full recovery.
Here’s another video of the hit:
