By Vanessa Broadbent
Osoyoos Times
Osoyoos Coyote Bryson Rody is recovering after a neck injury resulted in whiplash during Friday’s away game against the Kelowna Chiefs.
The injury came from a collision which Coyotes coach Mark Chase said was a “predatory hit.”
The right-winger was in the Coyote’s defensive end when a Kelowna player came from the blue line and hit him, Chase said.
“The puck was not in the position to play, and when he got to the corner his only intent was to with all of his force apply it into Bryson’s back. Bryson was unassuming and unprotected, no ability for him to protect himself, with his back turned.”
Chase doesn’t question if the hit might be accidental.
“There was no intention but to hit him,” he said. “When you watch it on video review you can clearly see that was all that was going through the player’s mind.”
Video footage of the incident has been submitted to BC Hockey for review, and the team has asked that the offending player be additionally penalized with suspension.
Chase is hoping the additional discipline will reinforce more positive conduct on the ice.
“Although these players consider themselves to be young men, they’re still young boys and they make decisions they probably will reflect upon later and go ‘I probably shouldn’t have done that,’” he said.
“He is a young boy and I’m hoping he will learn from it and hopefully there will be consequences for it so that will help facilitate the learning process in the end.”
However, Grant Sheridan, president and general manager of the Kelowna Chiefs, said the video has been reviewed and no further discipline will be issued at this time.
“Thankfully the KIJHL has a league disciplinary committee that reviews and handles all discipline which takes all emotional decisions out of coaches, fans, Twitter, and other reporting bodies’ hands,” he said.
Rody is expected to fully recover from the injury but it’s unclear when he’ll be ready to hit the ice again.
An import player from Lake Stevens, Washington, he has his own doctors in the United States he’ll visit over the team’s holiday break. After that, Chase said he’ll have a better idea of when to expect Rody back in play.
It could be as soon as the Coyotes first games back after Christmas on Dec. 28 and 29, but that’s unlikely.
“I don’t know if he will be ready for that, but we hope he will be,” Chase said.
As for the void Rody leaves on the team, Chase said it’s “pretty significant.”
The player is on the ice every game, and is on one of the team’s powerplay units.
“He gets a significant amount of ice time, provides lots of energy, is a bigger body and physical presence and creates scoring chances, so not having that on the ice, you definitely notice.”
In the meantime, Rody’s been ordered to keep immobilized and limit the amount of movement he does throughout the day.
He’s managed to stay positive, Chase said, thanks to a tremendous amount of support.
“I think that has really helped him stay in good spirits. There were a lot of people that were very concerned for him and we of course appreciate that.”
In a post on Twitter, the Kelowna Chiefs said: “Nothing any player, coach, fan or especially parent ever likes to see no matter the game or teams. It’s not ‘part of the game’ but it does happen.”
