A Philadelphia Flyers minor-league enforcer was hospitalized after a having a seizure following a bloody fight, just weeks after the death of a Canadian senior amateur player who hit his head on the ice while fighting.
Garrett Klotz, a hulking 20-year-old right wing in his first season with the American Hockey League's Philadelphia Phantoms, was taken off the ice on a stretcher Friday night in the opening seconds of a 2-1 victory over Manchester.
Phantoms spokesman Brian Smith said Klotz, also cut on the face, would remain overnight at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital and was expected to be released Saturday. Smith said Klotz was alert and responsive on the way to the hospital and watched the rest of the game on television.
"It was a scary incident," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren told Comcast SportsNet. "But we just got word from our doctor that he's clear. There's no facial fracture. They're stitching him up. His jaw is fine and there's no tooth fracture or anything. It's a scary ordeal, but he's going to be fine."
Klotz and Kevin Westgarthboth 6-foot-5 and Westgarth 12 pounds heavier at 247 -- removed their helmets and squared off immediately after the opening faceoff, with Klotz possibly retaliating for Westgarth's Nov. 7 fight with the Phantoms' Jeff Szwez.
The long fight ended when Westgarth hit Klotz with an uppercut and two more hard punches, dropping him to the iceand possibly knocking him out. Klotz appeared to land awkwardly on the boards but didn't hit his headand convulsed for 30 to 40 seconds. He was on the ice for about 10 minutes before being lifted onto the stretcher.
Klotz, from Regina, Saskatchewan, has one assist and 54 penalty minutes in 30 games for the Phantoms this season. After the Flyers drafted him 66th overall in 2007, he had a goal, three assists and 97 penalty minutes in 52 games last season for Saskatoon in the junior Western Hockey League. In 150 WHL games in three seasons with Red Deer and Saskatoon, he had five goals, five assists and 229 penalty minutes.
Westgarth has a goal, four assists and 109 penalty minutes in 38 games this season for Manchester. The former Princeton forward also played two penalty- and point-free games this season for the Los Angeles Kings.
The scary scene followed the death of Don Anderson, the 21-year-old Whitby Dunlops defenseman who died Jan. 2 after hitting his head on the ice after his helmet fell while fighting Dec. 12 in an Ontario Hockey Association game.
