Eric Staal has apparently escaped a serious injury after he was hit head-first into the boards from behind by Aaron Voros.

With 14:01 to play in the game Voros ran Staal into the boards in front of the Minnesota bench from behind.

After lying on the ice in front of the Minnesota bench, Staal skated gingerly to the Carolina bench as a five-on-five brawl broke out on the ice. As the referees sorted out the mess, Staal could clearly be seen saying “I’m fine” to his teammates.

Voros, though, may be in trouble. He received a major penalty for boarding and likely faces a suspension from the NHL.

The Canes only got one minute of power play time because of an instigator penalty and unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty assessed to Erik Cole for his role in the brawl that followed.

03/06/08 at 22:03
Cole's grit is back.

03/06/08 at 22:07
He better be suspended!!! Im getting tired of these blowhard players just tring to hurt people. Voros should be kicked out for the rest of the year for that bs. Staal is very lucky to not be hurt. To bad Brookbank wasnt out there because he probably would have beaten the he!! out of voros. Go CANES!!!!

03/06/08 at 22:10
Im also glad to see our guys standing up for each other. Our chemistry is good and Corvo and Eaves and Ruuto are all playing well. Great win and glad Staal isnt hurt!! BOOT VOROS.

03/06/08 at 22:15
Wow an excellent game. And it was exciting with some grit! If the Canes play this way for the rest of the season and put Seids in place of Hedican [ok maybe a dream about replacing Hedican], I will change my post name!

If they slack off and go back to pansy dump and chase with poke check defense...all bets are off.

Hmmmm....how does CanesTradeHedican sound..:P

Luke, anychance you can make a top ten list of Laviolette's in game analysis of the ref's, as in did he just say that?! Ha...:)

03/06/08 at 22:17
Aslo, why didnt the refs boot voros from the game? He is intent on hurting Staal and they know it, yet they dont eject him from the game. Why? The same thing happend to Cully in the game against the NYR. If the NHL doesnt suspend this voros, im gonna petition them to do so or something. The game of hockey has no place for that kind of utter disrespect and intent to hurt. BOOT VOROS.

03/06/08 at 22:41
Luke, do you have anything to report on Brookbank!

Oh, and BOOT VOROS (for Ivan).

03/07/08 at 00:30
COLE IS BACK TO HIS POWARD FORWARD ROLE, HE KNOWS WHAT HE NEEDS TO DO IN THERE. I LIKED WHAT I SAW TONIGHT FROM THESE GUYS, YOU HAVE TO BE PRETTY PROUD OF A TEAM THAT STICKS UP FOR THE PLAYER THEY SIT NEXT TO.
GO CANES KEEP THE GRIT, KEEP THE NASTY, AND MOST OF ALL KEEP WINNING.

03/07/08 at 05:44
God I love Erik Cole. It is great to see this kind of fire from him.

Excellent win for the team!

03/07/08 at 09:24
Erik Cole is the real deal. Stall showed his toughness and Voros showed what an idiot he is. I hope Brookbank is ok. Thanks Canes for a great effort and a great show.