EVERETT — Everett Silvertips center Zack Dailey, who had to be carried off the ice on a stretcher after receiving a blow to the head during Wednesday night’s game, saw his condition improve Thursday.
Dailey was held overnight at Providence Everett Medical Center, but he was released Thursday morning and spent the day recuperating at home. He was diagnosed with a concussion, but given the apparent severity of the injury at the time it could have been a lot worse.
“It’s scary,” said Everett coach John Becanic, who hadn’t witnessed anything as severe looking during his coaching career. “I don’t care whether it’s your team, another team, watching another sport. It’s heart wrenching. I’m just glad we kind of got through it and he’s healthy.”
Dailey is expected to be out at least a couple of weeks as he goes through the concussion protocol.
The injury occurred during the third period of Everett’s 4-0 victory over the Spokane Chiefs, when the 5-foot-6 Dailey was caught up high by a heavy hit from 6-foot-5 Chiefs defenseman Justin Falk. Dailey crumpled to the ice and began convulsing, with both teams’ medical staffs quickly coming to Dailey’s aid.
“You could tell he didn’t know where he was,” said Everett defenseman Mike Alexander, who was the first to arrive on the scene and call Tips trainer Chris Walker over. “You could tell he had a severe concussion as soon as he got hit. He was moving, but I don’t think he knew he was. He was in shock for sure.
“It was scary because his helmet came off and I didn’t know if he hit his head on the ice hard or if it was his neck or something like that,” Alexander added. “I didn’t really know what to do so I went over there and tried to talk to him. Luckily our trainer was there really quick.”
Dailey was immobilized and taken off in a stretcher, though he was able to acknowledge the Comcast Arena crowd as he was being taken off the ice. Many of his teammates visited Dailey in the hospital Wednesday night, Alexander saying Dailey was “cracking jokes and all that.”
Falk was assessed a major penalty for charging and a game misconduct for the hit. However, Becanic said he thought the hit was clean. The league agreed Thursday, rescinding both the charging major and the game misconduct, and Falk will not be suspended.
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