HAMILTON (CP) - Charges are possible after a Hamilton Bulldogs player took a baseball-style swing at a Cleveland Barons player during the first period of Friday night's AHL playoff game.
A bloodied Barons defenceman Garrett Stafford was taken to hospital after he was struck in the head with a stick by Bulldogs forward Alexander Perezhogin. He was treated and released from hospital, according to a Hamilton Health Sciences spokesperson.
Stafford, a Los Angeles native, was on his knees at the time of the attack and fell to the ice in convulsions, blood gushing from a huge gash in his face.
``I've been doing hockey my whole life and I've never seen anything like it,'' said enraged Barons coach Roy Sommer, who talked about an NHL incident in 2000 when Marty McSorley hit Donald Brashear in the head with his stick.
``That makes the McSorley-Brashear thing look like girl scouts.''
Stafford suffered a third-degree concussion and facial lacerations. He has been released from hospital and will return to Cleveland on Sunday.
Sommer said he hopes Perezhogin is punished to the full extent possible.
``I don't think this guy should ever play again in North America,'' he said. ``That's a travesty.
``I saw it on tape ... and it's even worse on tape.''
Stafford was put on a stretcher and taken to Hamilton General Hospital about 15 minutes after the incident. He was alert and stable when he arrived there.
Cleveland won the game 4-1 but Hamilton still leads the best-of-seven playoff series 3-2. Game 6 is scheduled for Cleveland on Sunday afternoon.
Bulldogs coach Doug Jarvis said his team's thoughts are with Stafford.
``My only thoughts right now is that Garrett Stafford is all right,'' he said. ``That's what we're all hoping for at this time.''
There was no word Friday night whether any charges will be laid.
Hamilton police Staff Sgt. Mike Campbell confirmed he had sent an investigator to Copps Coliseum to investigate. This does not mean that a complaint has been filed, or that charges will be laid, Campbell said.
In March, Vancouver Canucks player Todd Bertuzzi was suspended for the rest of the NHL regular season and playoffs for attacking Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore from behind.
Vancouver police have finished their investigation in that case and it is now up to the Crown to decide whether to lay charges.