While his Prince George Cougars teammates were on the ice, on their way to an overtime loss to the Seattle Thunderbirds last Wednesday in the fourth and deciding game of their WHL playoff series, Sam Ruopp was in the trainer's room wearing dark sunglasses, listening to the game on the radio.
Ruopp desperately wanted to play and the Cougars certainly could have used their top defenceman and captain. Maybe they would have won with him in the lineup.
But there was no way the 19-year-old Ruopp could play. He suffered a concussion and neck injury the day before in Game 3 when he got checked headfirst into the end boards by Seattle winger Keegan Kolesar.
"I was just following protocol and I wasn't able to watch the game - I came towards the end of the game to get worked on by our trainer Craig (Hyslop) and I stayed for the end," said Ruopp. "I wasn't supposed to but I couldn't leave the guys."
Ruopp was suffering migraine headaches, which doctors suspect might be related to the strain the hit caused his neck muscles.
"It was really hard," said Ruopp. "Not being able to be out on the ice with my teammates was probably the hardest part. I was a little bit confused, with headaches and stuff. It was an emotional time, especially saying my goodbyes to my roommate (graduating 20-year-old defenceman Joseph Carvalho) and a lot of my buddies. I couldn't ask for a better roommate, we became really good friends. He's a heart and soul player and he'll be missed."
Kolesar was handed a two-minute minor penalty for the hit and was later suspended by the league for two games. He phoned Ruopp the day after he got hurt and apologized.
Kolesar and Ruopp both were drafted last summer by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Kolesar went in the third round, 69th overall, and Ruopp was taken in the fifth round, 129th overall. They got to know each other playing in a rookie development camp in June and at an exhibition tournament in August in Traverse City, Mich., which the Jackets won. Ruopp considers the Winnipeg native his friend, but Kolesar got a little too caught up in the action behind the Cougars' net and his dangerous hit from behind caught Ruopp totally unaware.
"I talked to Keegan and he felt pretty bad about it," said Ruopp. "He was obviously very worried and apologized quite a bit. He didn't mean to injure me. Us hockey players, we know it's just a game and off the ice, everyone cares for each other. We were going at it quite a bit throughout the series and emotions get high sometimes and you don't think, you just react, and I guess this is a case of that."
Ruopp missed three games in late February after he got hit in the neck with a slapshot in a game in Kennewick, Wash. The concussion was the first serious one he's had in his career.
On Sunday, Ruopp left on a 16-hour trip, driving with his father Garth back to their grain farm near Zehner, Sask. When reached by The Citizen the previous day, Ruopp said he was feeling a lot more like himself.
"I'm a lot better, feeling great, and that's good for me," he said.
The Cougars lost the first and fourth games of the Seattle series in overtime and that's going to sting for awhile for Ruopp and the rest of the players. He hopes they will use that experience to become a better team next season.
"Who knows what would have happened if we'd won Game 1," he said. "We have a lot of upsides coming into next season and lots of younger guys looking to step up their game and play a bigger role. If I happen to come back, I'll be more than happy to.
"Prince George is like home to me and it's a class-act organization and I'd be more than happy to help the guys win a championship next season. I think next year just might be the year."
Before this season ends, Ruopp has been told by Columbus he likely will be asked to come to Cleveland to join the Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters.
