EVERETT — Nikita Scherbak was wearing street clothes and sitting in the stands during the Everett Silvertips’ practice at Xfinity Arena on Tuesday afternoon.
But given the circumstances, both Scherbak and the Tips are happy he was able to attend at all.
The scare has passed for Scherbak, who continues to make strides from the injury suffered during Saturday’s 3-2 shootout victory against the Seattle Thunderbirds at ShoWare Center in Kent, an injury that required Scherbak to be taken off the ice on a stretcher. And Everett’s star winger is already thinking about his possible return.
“I feel better,” Scherbak, Everett’s leading scorer, said. “There’s still pain, but I’m trying to come back as soon as possible.”
Scherbak, a winger who’s amassed 11 goals and 17 assists in 19 games, left many holding their breath at ShoWare Center in Kent when he went down following a legal hit from Seattle’s Keegan Kolesar. He was originally placed in a neck brace, immobilized on a backboard, removed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.
But he was cleared of any serious damage, he’s shed his crutches, and although he won’t play in Wednesday night’s home game against Kamloops, he’s just considered day-to-day with a deep thigh bruise.
“Any time you see anybody on a stretcher, let alone a teammate and a friend, it’s a scary situation for everyone involved,” Kohl Bauml, Scherbak’s linemate, said. “I’m sure the fans were pretty frightened, I know the Seattle Thunderbirds were asking if he was all right. But he’s doing pretty good right now.”
The injury happened late in the second period of Saturday’s game. Scherbak was moving forward along the right boards, looking to slide past the check of Kolesar, who was speeding across the ice in an attempt to cut Scherbak off. Kolesar’s knee caught the side of Scherbak’s thigh, causing Scherbak to immediately go down in pain.
“I’m trying to put the puck on the right side,” Scherbak recalled. “He hit me kind of knee to leg, so I just fell down.
“I had no idea if it was serious or not, but it hurt pretty bad.”
Scherbak felt unusual sensation in his leg, which prompted those on the scene to take the precaution of having Scherbak immobilized. However, Scherbak passed motion tests in all of his limbs before leaving the arena for Valley Regional Center in Renton. Tests at the hospital cleared Scherbak of any nerve or back damage, and scans for fractures also came back negative. He was discharged that night, though he left on crutches.
“I think there were some nerves hit when he got hit that caused just a moment of not having a lot of feeling,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “Thus they had to approach it the way they did on the ice because as soon as you start talking about no feeling in your legs …
“I think a nerve got pinched — that’s just my street sense,” Constantine continued. “It was pretty scary based on the symptoms, but in reality once the nerves settled down and the feelings came back, it’s more of just a bruise than any major damage, we hope.”
Scherbak was relieved the injury wasn’t more serious.
“For sure,” Scherbak replied. “You’re not going to be happy if it’s something serious, I think that’s a normal reaction. But it’s nothing serious and I think it’s good.”
The Tips are also relieved they probably won’t be losing their top offensive weapon for an extended period of time.
“Yeah (it’s a relief),” Constantine said. “He’s a good hockey player and you don’t want to lose any good hockey player on your team.”
Everett still remains short up front heading into Wednesday’s game against Kamloops. In addition to Scherbak, center Remi Laurencelle also didn’t practice Tuesday as he continues to deal with a sprained ankle. Laurencelle, who practiced with a no-contact jersey last week, remains listed as day-to-day. Winger Dawson Leedahl remains out indefinitely because of a knee injury.
With three forwards unavailable Wednesday, defensemen Carter Cochrane and Jordan Wharrie are expected to continue being used as forwards.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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