The injury suffered by Boston College freshman Patrick Eaves on Saturday is more serious than originally suspected.
Eaves, who leads the Eagles with 10 goals, suffered a fracture of the C-5 vertebra after a freak collision during Saturday’s 2-2 tie with Maine. Eaves was motionless for several minutes before finally moving his arms and legs.
Eaves will be fitted with a brace to keep his neck immobilized, and will need at least six weeks to recover.
“He’s expected to make a full recovery,” said BC coach Jerry York to the Boston Globe “After getting that call, none of us could sleep. It’s a bad situation, but the best of a bad situation. It was a clean break.”
According to York, the injury occured when Eaves skated backwards into a stick that, in effect, clotheslined him. BC’s Chris Collins and Maine’s Robert Liscak were battling for control of Collins’ stick, which created the clothesline.
“The chance of it happening were one in a million,” said York to the Globe. “I’ve never seen that before.”
Eaves was recently selected to be on the U.S. Junior National Team for the upcoming World Junior Championships in Nova Scotia, Canada.
