Hockey player Wardell fine

After being taken from the ice in a stretcher with a neck injury during Saturday’s game, Cory Wardell walked out of the hospital the same night and is practicing with the team again.

Utah State defensive coach Ned Hillyard, who rode in the ambulance with Wardell, said the whole situation appeared to be much more serious than it actually was.

“Any time there is neck pain, you always treat it serious,” he said. “You’d rather do too much and say ‘oh, thank goodness,’ than not do enough and say ‘oh (crap).'”

At first, the team was afraid that Wardell may have broken a vertebrae, which could result in paralysis. That is why they took the extra precautions, Hillyard said.

Wardell said he was racing after an Eastern Washington player on a breakaway when he dove for the puck and landed on top of his head. He said he heard his neck crack and then hit the boards behind the net and blacked out.

He said he didn’t think it was as serious as they were treating it.

“I just had neck pains,” he said. “They kept asking me questions and they told me not to move.”

Hillyard said the fact that Wardell got hurt the way he did shows that he is a good hockey player.

“The good players always get hurt because they’re the ones who always hustle and go after it,” he said. “The bad players wouldn’t try making a play the way he did.”

Hillyard said it was unfortunate that Wardell got hurt during Saturday’s game because he was playing his best of the season.

“He was doing good,” he said. “He’s probably the most defensive player on the team.”

USU trailed the game 3-2 with EWU attacking at the time of Wardell’s injury, but rallied to end the game in a 3-3 tie.

Wardell said he is back to full strength and expects to play this weekend against UVSC and Colorado State.

-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu