Injury bug plagues Icers at nationals

Penn State coach Joe Battista must feel like a dark cloud is hanging over him. With injuries pouring on his head as often as rain falls in State College, he watched the injury bug decimate his team at nationals.

"I just can't help but feel a little snakebitten," Battista said. "That's three years in a row that we've been to nationals without some of our best players. You start to think about what if."

Two years ago the Icers played the championship game with five injured players who wore casts, including All-American defenseman and captain John Farrall. Forward Dave Raymer, who was leading the team in goal scoring at the time, severed a tendon in his hand.

The following year Jason Zivkovic, the team's rookie of the year, missed nationals with mononucleosis, while Rich Martha was suffering from back spasms.

One of the main goals in Battista's arranging the schedule the way he did this season was to make sure his team had a chance to heal before the tournament. By scheduling teams like Michigan and Michigan State at season's end, he could afford to rest his key performers and give those with nagging injuries time to recuperate.

He got through the regular season with no problems. Then the Icers arrived in Ann Arbor, Mich., for this year's ACHA national tournament.

Entering the tournament completely healthy, it took less than one period for the Icers' luck to run out.

"It's really very, very frustrating," Battista said, "because it's something that you feel like you don't have any control over."

First, Rob Shaner went down. The freshman was coming off his first career hat trick against Michigan and was playing well. He then promptly separated his shoulder against Eastern Michigan.

First the team thought he had broken his collarbone, but it turned out to be a separated shoulder. It didn't really matter what the injury was. He still had played his last game of the year.

The most devastating injuries occurred to the defensive unit. Don Coyne, arguably the team's best offensive weapon from the blue line, also was lost for the tournament after twisting his ankle with one minute left in the first game.

It appeared he might be able to return the next day, but the injury turned out to be worse than originally thought, and the sophomore wasn't able to play again.

The injury to Coyne, who at the time was leading the defense in scoring and was on the verge of shattering the Icer record for points by a defenseman in a season, affected all aspects of the Icer game plan. Coyne usually quarterbacked the Icers' top power-play unit. His shot from the point and ability to find the passing lanes while on the man advantage was missed.

His size, 6 feet 1, 202 pounds, would have been invaluable against Iowa State, a big, physical club. Although he did not stress the physical part of the game, he was able to dish out a few nasty checks, and the physical part of his game seemed to be picking up as of late.

Fellow blueliner Paul Shuttleworth was injured in the second game against Western Michigan. Probably the Icers' best defensive defenseman, Shuttleworth was hobbled by a deep-thigh contusion that limited his mobility and effectiveness.

He took a knee to the thigh on a cheap play by a Western Michigan defenseman as he tried to get a pass away on a three-on-two break. Although he gutted it out and played the next game against Iowa State, he was noticeably slowed by the injury.

"If Buff (Shuttleworth) is 200 pounds, 180 of that is heart," assistant coach Andy Strasser said after the 5-4 loss to the Cyclones. "He played until his knee just gave out on him."

Shuttleworth said it was very important for him to play against Iowa State. With the loss of Coyne the night before, it made it much more important to him to play.

"For that game, it was going to take a whole lot more to keep me out of there," Shuttleworth said. "After Donny went down we just said, 'Oh well, here it goes, the luck is gone.' It definitely put a damper on things."

The loss of two quality defensemen meant the majority of the work was put on the shoulders of Zivkovic, senior captain Eddie Kmit, Jurgen Cautreels and freshman Loren Remetta. Cam Brown, Ryan Wick and Jim Frey also contributed.

Zivkovic, who picked up the offensive slack in Coyne's absence and tied the record for points by a defenseman in a season, also twisted his ankle against Western Michigan but was able to return. For his efforts, he was selected to the All-Tournament team. After missing last year's tourney due to mono, it was sweet redemption for Zivkovic

Jeff Adams also hurt his knee but was able to play and earned an ACHA All-Tournament team berth. He led the Icers in goal scoring with five tallies in four games.

Senior Rich Martha, playing in his last ACHA national tournament, also was hampered by injury. He hurt his ribs in the finale when he dove to block a slap shot in the first period against Arizona in the consolation final.

Martha was then forced back into action after Todd Dakan was ejected from the game for spearing in the second period. He later took a shot in the very same spot with less than a minute remaining in the game.

But the injuries haven't been used as an excuse. After defeating Penn State, the Cyclones did lose in the championship game to Ohio, 2-1. And there is no guarantee had the Icers advanced that they would have beaten the Bobcats, who won their third consecutive national championship.

But it definitely would have been a different game against the Cyclones with a healthy lineup.

"I don't know how much we would have had left if we made it to the championship game," Battista said, "but you never know."

Note:

n  Icer goaltender John Sixt was an All-Tournament second-team selection.