Glowa injury fears allayed
Stingrays captain Jeff Glowa should lineup this weekend in the Rays fixtures against Edinburgh, in the Elite League, and Coventry, in the Challenge Cup.The 33 year old was injured early in the Stingrays hectic fixture in Wales on Sunday night after a Tylor Michel check, which was penalised with a 2+10 for checking from behind, left him with the early effects of concussion.
Although perhaps not 100% fit, Glowa is confident that the injury won't be enough to keep himself out of this weekends games.
He said: "After it happened I had a headache and wobbly legs and didn't think it was safe to go back out there. I did not feel comfortable. I am going to skate today and I will have a couple of visits to the chiropractor but it shouldn't keep me out of next weekend."
Further suspensions pending
After the unsavoury events that marred the end of the Stingrays 5-2 Challenge Cup loss in Cardiff on Sunday night, coach Sylvain Cloutier is awaiting further news from the Elite League regarding the suspensions of at least one of his squad.
Cardiff v Stingrays, Sunday night incident
Whilst Adam Knight and Cardiff's Brad Voth will automatically sit out their next two games (v Edinburgh and in Coventry for Knight), as a result of receiving a double match penalties in the final minutes of the game, speculation suggests Curtis Huppe may also receive a ban for his actions in the brawl.
Cloutier said, "both teams played hard, it was very competitive, it was intense and stuff happened in the heat of the moment. I don't want to say too much but we will have to wait to see what the league say."
The Elite Leangue are currently holding an investigation into the incident, to review whether further punishment is required and their findings are expected within the next week.
Both sides have previous with regards to opening weekend incidents. In the Rays first away game last season, Rick Kozak was banned for a total of ten games after he left Nottingham's Marc Levers needing stitches in his forehead, whilst Voth was involved with Sheffield's Andrew Sharp on the same day last season and received a 12 game suspension.
Mitchell goes under the knife
The injury, which was feared to be ligament damage, was confirmed as a tear on his meniscus after an MRI scan last week and is likely to keep him out of action for at least another week. That time frame, however, does look optimistic given that he was forced to sit an extended period of time a year and a half ago with an injury to the same knee.
Five goal weekend seals player of the week for Kalmikov
Coming of the back of a weekend in which the Rays split two highly fought and controversial games with the Cardiff Devils, one player stood out for all the right reasons.Konstantin Kalmikov has started this season as he finished the last...in form, scoring five of the Stingrays six goals in the doubler header, including a hat-trick on Saturday night to steal the team's first win of the season.
The Ukrainian forward last season netted 25 times in 48 games and won the player of the week award for the first time in mid-January. He continues to push his case as one of the Stingrays purest ever finishers and one of the best players in the team's five year existence, his goalscoring exploits will have to continue if the team is to be successful this year.
