Ref's roughness during fight puts Cabana out for 2-3 weeks

By Chris Umpierre
Fort Myers News Press

In all his years in hockey, Florida Everblades coach Gerry Fleming had never
witnessed what he saw in his team's game Saturday: a linesman injuring a player.

ECHL linesman JR Waller flung forward Paul Cabana to the ice during a donnybrook
in the third period. Waller was attempting to restrain Cabana. Florida's
second-leading scorer injured his right shoulder and will miss two to three
weeks.

"The guy has never reffed in this league before. He was in the (United Hockey
League). I think something should happen to him," Cabana said Monday. "I'm going
to be out two to three weeks, why not suspend him? If you look at the tape, it
looks like he was fighting me. I thought I was getting jerseyed."

The Blades sent a video of the incident to the ECHL and the league is
investigating the matter, commissioner Brian McKenna said Monday. The ECHL could
have a ruling on the incident before the Blades (3-1-0) play the South Carolina
Stingrays tonight at Germain Arena, McKenna said.

Cabana's injury is a significant blow to Florida, which lost forward Reggie Berg
to a right wrist injury on opening night. Berg will be out for three months. A
high-scoring power forward, Cabana has a team-high three goals and two assists.

Forward Phil Aucoin, who was acquired in a trade with the Charlotte Checkers on
Friday, will replace Cabana tonight. The team will also look to rookies such as
forwards Jonathan Lehun and Drew Larman to pick up the scoring slack.

"Losing Cabby hurts," Blades forward Steve Saviano said. "We were getting pretty
used to each other. It's going to hurt my performance a little bit too, I'm
sure. I have to rebound somehow and overcome it."

Saturday's third-period fracas against Augusta erupted with 7:20 left in the
game. At least three fights broke out. Cabana fought with a player in front of
Augusta's bench. Waller skated over and pulled Cabana away.

After seeing Augusta's Nicolas Corbeil go after Saviano, Cabana threw down his
stick and charged Corbeil. Facing Cabana, Waller grabbed the Florida forward's
arm and Cabana tried to squirm away. Cabana fell backward onto the ice.

"He grabbed my arm when I was pulling at the same time and my shoulder popped
out (of the socket)," Cabana said. "If you're going to grab a guy, bearhug him.
You don't grab a guy and try to swing him around like he was doing to me."

Fleming said after Saturday's game that Waller used "excessive force." Blades
general manager Craig Brush declined comment Monday, fearing a league fine.

"Maybe he used too much force," Blades defenseman Chris Lee said. "It was a
freak thing."

McKenna said the ECHL will look at the video and interview any and all parties
involved. He declined to answer when asked if a similar incident has happened in
the league before.

"It's frustrating," said Cabana, who has had previous right shoulder injuries.
"The team is off to a good start. I was off to a good start. I worked hard in
the offseason to address the problem (shoulder injuries)."

Although he was still feeling pain, Cabana had motion back in his right shoulder
Monday. His teammates couldn't help but tease him about the incident.

"It's pretty bad when you get worked over by a linesman," a teammate told
Cabana.

Aucoin, Cabana's replacement, recorded three points (one goal) in four games
with Charlotte before the trade. He played in the Central Hockey League last
season.

"I think this is a better fit for me," said Aucoin, who practiced with Florida
for the first time Monday. "I'm 23 and this is a more younger team. Charlotte
has an older team. And Saviano and I played together for seven years growing
up."

Saviano and Aucoin lived about 10 minutes away from each other in the Boston
area.

"He's a similar player to me," said Saviano, who practiced on a line with Anders
Strome and Aucoin on Monday. "He's a skill player who can move the puck pretty
well. He's a centerman, and we need one."

The Blades will play tonight's opponent, the Stingrays, nine times in 2005-06.
South Carolina (2-4-3) has played the most games of any team in the league so
far this season. The Stingrays lost to Charlotte 7-2 on Sunday.

ICE CHIPS

D Grant McNeill, who suffered a concussion in the team's second game, has left
the Blades to be with his pregnant wife in Vermillion, Alberta. McNeill's wife
is scheduled to give birth today. McNeill will need to be symptom-free for two
weeks before he can play, Fleming said. ...

Lee has been moved from forward to defense because of McNeill's injury. Lee
played defense in both games last weekend. "It's a bit of an adjustment," Lee
said. "But it's an adjustment I've done before. I played more defense than
forward last year." ...

F Brandon Coalter missed Monday's practice to take a firefighter examination.

TONIGHT'S GAME

Who: Florida Everblades vs. South Carolina Stingrays
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Germain Arena

November 08, 2005


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