Luka Vidmar Out For Season

UAA Seawolves junior defenseman Luka Vidmar appears to be out for the season with what coach Dave Shyiak described as a "grade 3" ACL tear.  Colorado College senior forward Brian McMillin was whistled for a kneeing penalty on Vidmar at 13:52 of the 1st period during Friday nights 1st game of the WCHA series at World Arena in Colorado Springs.

Luka appeared in 10 games this season and posted 1 goal with 4 assists.  It was a promising beginning to the season.  In his two previous seasons, Vidmar had registered 2 goals and 9 assists over 60 games.  Luka had become a regular on the Seawolves power play this season displaying smart heads up play as well as showing an ability to get the puck through traffic to the net.

His absence from the blueline leaves the Seawolves with 6 healthy regular defenseman (2 seniors, 1junior, 1 sophomore and 2 freshman) while they await the mid-season activation of transfer Brad Gorham who is listed as an forward/defenseman. 

I had commented last weekend to some other fans that I thought Luka was coming into his own this season and I'd been impressed with his play.  At this time it appears there is no public video of the infraction.  And there has been no word as to whether coach Shyiak has asked for any sort of review of the infraction which lead to this season ending injury for Vidmar.

I would only add best wishes to Luka for the speediest possible recovery with the best possible outcome for him personally.

Matthew Gordon Eye Injury: Career Ending?

I saw the puck that hit Matthew Gordon Saturday night. I saw him skate over to the locker room for some stitches. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for a hockey game. Facial cuts are common ... but the damage that puck did was definitely uncommon. The Anchorage Daily News is reporting that Steve Cobb says the injury could be career threatening. The article doesn't detail the extent of the injury but the commenter who alerted me to this in the previous post mentioned retinal damage. Wow. That's a shock.

Writing about a potentially career ending injury isn't something I have much experience with. Thank god they don't happen very often. Matthew's only outing was evidence to me that he could do well at this level. He played well and looked confident. I guess its only left to hope that the surgery to repair the damage leaves Matthew without any deficits in his permanent sight. Whether he plays hockey again or not. Best wishes to Matthew and his family. This has got to be a difficult time for them.