OHL: Majors captain Percy ‘lucky’ after scary hit (video)

It is a sound Mississauga Majors head coach James Boyd won't soon forget. The echoing explosion of noise created when his star defenceman, Stuart Percy, went crashing head-first into the boards.

"I can tell you from where I was on the bench, it sounded terrible," said Boyd. "That's my main concern — the force of the impact. I haven't watched a replay of the hit, I don't want to right now."

Percy, a first-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs, was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure. According to Boyd, Percy suffered a sprained wrist, whiplash and a cut on his cheek which required stitches. X-rays taken at the hospital were negative.

"He's lucky," said Boyd, who noted Percy was expected to be released on Sunday night. "But he's pretty sore, pretty stiff.

"It's good news."

Boyd said he didn't think Percy would be back in the Majors lineup next weekend meaning the defenceman could make use of the OHL's shutdown over the Christmas holidays to rest up even further.

Percy was hurt late in the second period of Kitchener's 6-1 victory over the Majors. He was attempting to get the puck in the neutral zone when a collision with Rangers forwards Andrew Crescenzi and Ben Thomson sent him head-first into the boards. From across the ice, it looked as though Thomson bumped Percy from the side and, as the Majors captain lost his footing, Crescenzi hit him from behind. Thomson, however, was the Ranger given the five-minute boarding major and the game misconduct.

UPDATE: Here's the video of the hit courtesy of Rogers TV:

"He was trying to gain the red line there and he was in an awkward position," said Boyd after the game.

After the hit, Percy laid face-first on the ice and a number of skirmishes broke out while Majors athletic therapist Ivan Bokanovic tried to tend to him. Percy was eventually helped off the ice by teammates.

Kitchener Rangers head coach Steve Spott said he was talking to assistant Troy Smith when the incident occurred and did not see the collision. He did, however, address the general issue of hitting from behind and the OHL's tougher new policy.

"I've been a proponent of respect and I know that the league will look at the situation and I know that (the OHL) will make the appropriate decision on it," said Spott after the game. "But, for me, it's about player respect and I'd be hypocritical if I said I thought it was OK because when you have a player lying on the ice after a hit from behind. It definitely isn't OK."

This is the third time Percy has been injured this season and the second time he's been injured by a hit from behind.

"He's our go-to guy and any time he misses out of the lineup is a concern," Boyd said.

Sunaya Sapurji is the Junior Hockey Editor at Yahoo! Sports.
Email: sunaya@yahoo-inc.com | Twitter @Sunayas.

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