EWU coach threatens Aggie

After Saturday night’s game against Eastern Washington, the game’s official score sheet had a message from the night’s officials to the league administration that read, “Note: Postgame w/ EWU coach – he claimed #98 USU spat in his team’s face. He said ‘when they come to our place, he’s a dead man.'”

Assistant coach Jon Eccles said he did not know exactly what had happened.

“I don’t know how it started,” he said. “It probably started on the ice. The ref was just making sure the [league] knew about it.”

As the teams were walking off the ice to their respective locker rooms, they began to shout at each other.

Players from each team started walking toward each other before they were broken up by fellow players and coaches.

“That shouldn’t happen off the ice,” Aggie Jordan Francom said. “It’s bad class.”

With 2:52 remaining in the third period, Aggie Mike Lewandowski got in a fight with Eagle Jonathan Braun and both were disqualified. Osterheldt was also involved in a scuffle with Eagle Travis Popp while the other two were fighting.

Lewandowski and Braun were both suspended for their next game.

Wardell hospitalized

USU defenseman Cory Wardell was taken off the ice in a stretcher with a neck injury after sliding head first into the boards during Saturday night’s game.

Wardell dove to swipe the puck from an EWU player on a breakaway and slid into the boards.

He lied motionless on the ice for about 20 minutes until an ambulance arrived.

“We were concerned with his neck pain,” team physician Alys Staten said. “We called the ambulance as a precaution.”

Eccles said the hospital called shortly after Wardell arrived and said “he will be OK.”

At first, the team feared Wardell had broken a vertebrae, but Staten said they had jumped to conclusions.

“He could feel everything,” she said. “He was pretty calm. I’m sure he was somewhat worried, but anybody would be.”

Head coach Jerry Crossley said the team does not know if or when Wardell will play again this season.

“It’s one of those scary situations,” he said. “You just pray its nothing serious and you hope he’s going to be okay. It sounds like he will be.”

-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu