Cats News

Matthias playing super, McArdle hurt in fight

> Posted by sgorten at 6:31:29 PM

----- Center Shawn Matthias continues to show why the Panthers are so excited they traded for him this past spring while dumping deadweight and locker room cancer Todd Bertuzzi.

As of Thursday, Matthias was second in the OHL (junior league) in scoring with eight goals and 13 assists (21 points) in nine games for the Belleville Bulls. The only player in the league with more points than Matthias, Oshawa Generals forward John Tavares, is considered by many to potentially be better than Sidney Crosby in the future. Last season, Tavares broke Wayne Gretzky's record for most goals by a 16-year-old by scoring 72.

----------That's the good news for the Panthers. The bad news........

Promising winger Kenndal McArdle, who was their best player in rookie camp, looked impressive in training camp and was just six games into his first AHL season (Rochester Americans), is expected to be out four to six weeks after sustaining a broken jaw in a fight during Tuesday's game. He was hit hard by a right-handed uppercut from Manitoba Moose winger Jason Jaffray.

McArdle underwent surgery Wednesday afternoon. According to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester coach Randy Cunneyworth was upset that Jaffray's sweater was pulled off during the fight, but the fight wasn't stopped. McArdle had no way to tie up Jaffray, who eventually landed a hard right.

McArdle suffered a bilateral fracture and had two small plates inserted into his jaw.

"The good thing is, they won't have to wire the jaw shut, so he can eat most foods," Duane Sutter, the Panthers' director of player development, told the Democrat and Chronicle. Sutter called McArdle's injury "devastating."

McArdle had one goal and two assists in six games.

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_hocke...on-top-pro.html

so Frolik and McArdle are both hurt now but Mathias kid is seeming unstoppable