Canisius Junior Returns After Scary Injury

Stief's Neck Cut Sent Training Staff Into Emergency Mode

by Melissa Burgess/CHN Reporter

“That’s probably your worst fear as a hockey athletic trainer.”

That’s how Canisius athletic trainer Mike Ziemer described the situation in early January at Harborcenter in Buffalo, N.Y.

During a game against North Dakota in the early days of 2019, Griffs junior defender Matt Stief was cut in the throat by an errant skate. Stief collided with North Dakota’s Jordan Kawaguchi in the corner; as Kawaguchi fell, his skate came up and caught Stief, narrowly missing Stief's jugular vein and carotid artery. Luckily, a matter of inches made all the difference for Stief — in a good way.

“It happened pretty fast,” Stief said. “I tried moving out of the way of a hit on the forecheck and I kind of saw [the North Dakota player] fall awkwardly and felt something hit my neck.

“First instinct was to take my glove off and feel it. I saw blood, but it wasn’t splattering. So … first instinct is to drop everything and get right to the bench.”

That’s exactly what Stief did, in the middle of the play. Eventually, the team was able to alert the officials to what had happened, and play was stopped.

Although it’s a situation that no athletic trainer ever wants to see, it’s one that they prepare for. It's the type of thing that could've been worse, but is pretty bad as it was.

Canisius’ team has a specific protocol for situations like this, one they practice before each season.

“Our plan is just an emergency action plan that we review at the beginning of the season,” Ziemer said. “All the doctors are there, the EMTs and their staff are there, so we just practice it and hope that it never happens. The one time it does, we can move pretty quickly and efficiently to get him the proper care as quickly as possible.

“The way he came off quickly, and the way he was holding the area was kind of alarming at that point. So I’m standing on the bench, ready to get him. We see what it is, the severity of it, and we start the protocol.”

Similar instances have happened in hockey before, sometimes the worst-case scenario. Hit the wrong spot, and a player can bleed out. It's almost happened before, but not yet — the most notable example be Clint Malarchuk of the Buffalo Sabres, the goaltender, in the early 1990s. That led to the throat protectors that goaltenders now wear.

“It was a little bit tough, because the bench has to clear an there’s the crowing effect; there were a lot of people at the game,” Ziemer said. “[The North Dakota] doctor was on the bench, so he was able to come over and look at him first. At that point we were already enacting our emergency action plan. He [Stief] was then put onto the stretcher on the bench where we kind of prepped him to go and took him out.”

Stief was eventually transported to a local hospital, where he received about 40 stitches and was released that night. Ziemer credited North Dakota’s medical staff and the EMTs from Twin City Ambulance for their work as the situation unfolded, and Stief reflected similar thoughts.

“I can’t thank Mike Ziemer and our training staff and North Dakota’s staff enough,” Stief said. “What it could have been, right? I’m just thankful.”

Two weeks later, Stief was back in action with the Griffs. He missed only three games — a weekend series against Mercyhurst, and a loss to Robert Morris. Stief returned to action on January 19 in a 6-4 win over the Colonials and also played in both of Canisius’ recent losses to Bentley.

“It was a moment that I don’t think any of us had really been through,” Canisius coach Trevor Large said. “Having Matt back is extremely positive for our team. He’s a great person.

“We talk about defining a Griff; he definitely does that. We missed his poise and passing when he was away and now that we get him back pretty quickly after a severe injury, it’s great to have him back. It’s a good feeling for all of us to have him back with our team.”

Stief still sports a scar across his neck, but it’s already starting to fade.

“It was obviously weird at first,” Stief said. “Just a weird spot. It was a bit sore for the first few days, but it kept getting better. I kept taking care of it and doing stuff with Z [Ziemer]. Luckily, it wasn’t a huge a cut and I was able to get the stitches out in a week and cleared right away.

“Obviously, it’s still in the back of your head at all times."

Returning to practice after the incident — and then eventually returning to games — meant a lot to Stief.

“It was definitely a fun moment to be back out with the guys,” he said. “I knew I couldn’t do contact for a few days but just to be back out on the ice was a great feeling, and to be able to play and help the guys come out with a win [against Robert Morris] was definitely a good feeling.”

Ziemer said that the skate missed “a lot of the scarier parts of the body,” but not by much.

“Those are the ones you kind of play over in your mind, what to do very quickly, so you kind of prepare for it to hopefully never happen,” Ziemer said. “I like to stay out of the limelight as much as possible.”