"Tri-City Americans GM Bob Tory confirmed Monday that overage F Neal Prokop will make his season debut Wednesday when the teams takes on the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent.
Prokop has been out since suffering a broken femur during the Americans' first-round playoff series last spring against Chilliwack.
His return is the latest lineup shuffle to a team that has been scuffling recently, losing six of its last seven games.
With Prokop returning to the lineup, that means the Americans have four 20-year-olds on the roster -- one more than the league maximum of three, but the team has an injury exemption.
After Wednesday, the Americans will have 14 days to release or trade one of their overagers -- captain Kruise Reddick, alternate captain Tyler Schmidt (about to become the franchise's all-time leader in games played by a defenseman) or recently acquired D Zak Stebner." (examiner)
I cant believe it, I'm happy, but...wow! The guy broke his femur, and broke it bad. Here's a rewind from the Tri-City Herald after it happened:
"The surgery was supposed to be 21/2 hours, but it ended up being 4," Prokop said. "The doctor said he had a hard time getting the (titanium) rod into my bone. He said I had a really hard bone. He showed me the scratches on his hand."
Prokop said he isn't sure how long the rod in his leg is, but by the incision, he estimates about 10 inches.
Americans athletic therapist Brian Cheeseman got a look at the X-rays and said the break was a transverse fracture in the upper third of the femur toward the hip.
A transverse fracture is a break across the bone, at a right angle to the long axis of the bone.
"It's a pretty significant break," Cheeseman said. "Fortunately, he didn't go into shock."
I know that i didn't expect him to be back so soon. I dont think Tory did either, otherwise I dont think he would've made the trade for Stebner earlier in the year. This is just going to make things awfully uncomfortable for the next 2 weeks because someones gotta go. There are 4 overagers on the team Reddick, Schmidt, Stebner, and now Prokop. By process of elimination im pretty sure Tory wouldnt dump his captain, so Reddick stays. Schmidt is an alternate so he's probably not gone either. That leaves Prokop and Stebner in the mix.
I believe Stebner has been a great addition since he got here, seems he worked his tail off to get into the system and log more and more playing time.
Prokop was such an integral part of the teams success last year all the way up to the broken leg and past it, as the team rallied around his absence to play harder.
I dont know whats going to happen nor do I want to think about what should happen. I wish we could keep everyone, wouldn't that be nice? Bob Tory makes some crazy deals and trades and we'll just have to wait it out and see. I'm excited for Neal to get back on the ice with the guys, I'm sure everyone is happy to have him back.
Prokop has been out since suffering a broken femur during the Americans' first-round playoff series last spring against Chilliwack.
His return is the latest lineup shuffle to a team that has been scuffling recently, losing six of its last seven games.
With Prokop returning to the lineup, that means the Americans have four 20-year-olds on the roster -- one more than the league maximum of three, but the team has an injury exemption.
After Wednesday, the Americans will have 14 days to release or trade one of their overagers -- captain Kruise Reddick, alternate captain Tyler Schmidt (about to become the franchise's all-time leader in games played by a defenseman) or recently acquired D Zak Stebner." (examiner)
I cant believe it, I'm happy, but...wow! The guy broke his femur, and broke it bad. Here's a rewind from the Tri-City Herald after it happened:
"The surgery was supposed to be 21/2 hours, but it ended up being 4," Prokop said. "The doctor said he had a hard time getting the (titanium) rod into my bone. He said I had a really hard bone. He showed me the scratches on his hand."
Prokop said he isn't sure how long the rod in his leg is, but by the incision, he estimates about 10 inches.
Americans athletic therapist Brian Cheeseman got a look at the X-rays and said the break was a transverse fracture in the upper third of the femur toward the hip.
A transverse fracture is a break across the bone, at a right angle to the long axis of the bone.
"It's a pretty significant break," Cheeseman said. "Fortunately, he didn't go into shock."
I know that i didn't expect him to be back so soon. I dont think Tory did either, otherwise I dont think he would've made the trade for Stebner earlier in the year. This is just going to make things awfully uncomfortable for the next 2 weeks because someones gotta go. There are 4 overagers on the team Reddick, Schmidt, Stebner, and now Prokop. By process of elimination im pretty sure Tory wouldnt dump his captain, so Reddick stays. Schmidt is an alternate so he's probably not gone either. That leaves Prokop and Stebner in the mix.
I believe Stebner has been a great addition since he got here, seems he worked his tail off to get into the system and log more and more playing time.
Prokop was such an integral part of the teams success last year all the way up to the broken leg and past it, as the team rallied around his absence to play harder.
I dont know whats going to happen nor do I want to think about what should happen. I wish we could keep everyone, wouldn't that be nice? Bob Tory makes some crazy deals and trades and we'll just have to wait it out and see. I'm excited for Neal to get back on the ice with the guys, I'm sure everyone is happy to have him back.
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