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Greyhounds forward Boris Katchouk to miss remainder of season after defending teammate

Greyhounds forward Boris Katchouk to miss remainder of season after defending teammate

By Dhiren Mahiban

Boris Katchouk’s will miss the remainder of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds regular season.

Katchouk is currently in the Ontario Hockey League's concussion protocol, which will force him to miss this weekend's games against Flint on Friday and Guelph on Sunday.

The Greyhounds forward stepped in as 20-year-old Saginaw Spirit captain Connor Brown was engaging 17-year-old Greyhounds defenceman Mac Hollowell on Wednesday night. Katchouk and Brown dropped the gloves in what Hockeyfights.com registered as Katchouk’s third fight of the season and Brown’s 11th.

Katchouk left the game “noticeably wobbly” following the fight, according to Peter Ruicci of the Sault Star and did not return.

Greyounds coach Drew Bannister told Yahoo! Sports, via email, that Katchouk would miss this weekend’s games as part of the league’s  protocol.

“As of today, he does not show any signs of concussion symptoms,” Bannister wrote.  “We will follow the proper protocol put out by the league but we don't see him being out any length of time at the moment.”

Ruicci reports that Katchouk was taken to hospital following the game as precaution. The six-foot-one, 180-pound forward is now in the Ontario Hockey League’s concussion protocol.

“What's typical is a minimum of 7-10 days,” Hounds athletic therapist Aaron Madgett told Ruicci of the potential time frame for Katchouk to return to game action. “But concussions are individual. It depends on how he recovers. But I can usually have the athlete back in 7-10 days.”

Katchouk is fourth in team scoring with 24 goals and 27 assists in 63 games this season.

The 17-year-old was ranked 32nd amongst North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting in January for the upcoming NHL draft.

The timing is less than ideal for the Greyhounds, who have just two regular-season games remaining before the playoffs begin.

As it stands, the Greyounds, seventh in the Western Conference, will open the first round of the playoffs on the road in Sarnia.