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Sunday, November 21, 1999
Fractured disc may end Savage's season
ANAHEIM, Calif. (CP) -- Brian Savage, the Montreal Canadiens' leading scorer, is out for at least two months after being diagnosed Sunday with a fractured disc in his lower neck -- an injury the team doctor said could have been "fatal."Savage, who was flattened by defenceman Ian Laperriere during Montreal's 5-3 win in Los Angeles on Saturday night, remained in Centinela Hospital on Sunday while doctors waited for swelling to subside in order to run a second MRI exam.
Team doctor David Mulder said no surgery was required, but a second vertebrae may also be fractured and there may be ligament damage in his neck.
The Sudbury, Ont., native is expected to be released today or Tuesday. He was ordered to take complete rest for six-to-eight weeks wearing a neck brace and then begin rehabilitation.
There was no estimate of when he might be back on skates.
"He was lucky and unlucky at the same time," Dr. Mulder said. "That kind of injury can be fatal.
"Fortunately, the spinal cord wasn't damaged. For us, that's the important thing."
It was the second long-term injury to strike the already injury-riddled Canadiens in less than a week. Last Thursday, team captain Saku Koivu had surgery on his left shoulder that will sideline the team's first-line centre for three months.
Savage, Koivu's linemate who leads the club with 12 goals and seven assists, was left twitching on the ice after wiffing at a shot on a rush and taking a shoulder hit from Laperriere just inside the Kings' blue line.
Savage, 28, was carried from the ice on a stretcher.
"The only thing we're concerned about is Brian's health," said acting captain Shayne Corson. "We just want him to be able to live a normal life with his wife and his child, who'll be born soon.
"We all love playing hockey, but that's secondary to someone's health. The Kings players were also concerned about it. Some of them came over and asked me about him. It was hard to continue playing."
Coach Alain Vigneault, who now has seven veterans injured, said he told his players to concentrate on the game after Savage was carried off and they did, picking up only their sixth win in 21 games.
"But the win felt a lot less important after the game," said Vigneault. "We can't forget that this is a game we're playing.
"The good news is that Brian's going to be OK."
It was one more headache for beleaguered general manager Rejean Houle, who already had Koivu, right winger Turner Stevenson (sore back), left winger Benoit Brunet (back), and defencemen Igor Ulanov (fractured foot), Vladimir Malakhov (torn knee ligaments) and Patrice Brisebois (back surgery) out for the long term.
"I've never seen this in all my years of hockey," said Houle. "I've seen teams have injuries, but not that many out for three or fours months."
The Canadiens recalled centre Matt Higgins from Quebec City of the AHL, where he had one goal and four assists in six games since being sent down to the Citadelles on Nov. 8.
The Canadiens end a four-game road trip with games tonight in Anaheim and Tuesday night in San Jose.
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