Williams, Martel Missed AHL Outdoor Classic For Very Different Reasons
HERSHEY - From the time it was announced last year, the 2018 Outdoor Classic was perhaps the most anticipated event for the Hershey Bears and Lehigh Valley Phantoms - aside from perhaps the start of the 2017-2018 season.
As the event drew near, players on both teams were filled with anticipation, anxiously awaiting the event that reminded them of where they have come from - the early days of their hockey careers playing on outdoor rinks.
But all of that changed in the blink of an eye last Saturday night in Allentown for Lehigh Valley’s Danick Martel and Hershey’s Colby Williams.
As Martel raced down the boards to corral a loose puck, Williams was zooming in from a near-90 degree angle. The resulting collison left Martel on the ice and Williams nearby defending himself from retaliation by Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
To say hockey is a game of inches could be the biggest cliche in this case. If either player had been an inch or two in a different direction, the hit would have still been huge, but both would more than likely have played tonight. That’s just the unfortunate reality of the game where the players skate faster and the hits keep getting bigger.
That Martel would be missing the Outdoor Classic was certain after he underwent surgery for a broken jaw as Scott Gordon told Tony Androckitis Sunday night after the two teams squared off in Hershey. By Monday, news came that the AHL had suspended Williams for three games, thus ensuring that he would not be skating in his first AHL Outdoor Classic. While the AHL does not comment on suspensions, the staff in Hershey and Williams did, essentially accepting the punishment as there is no other alternative.
Williams, who participated in Thursday night’s Hockey in Heels, told InsideAHLHockey’s photographer, Nina Weiss, that he has been in contact with Martel, which will more than likely go a long way to smoothing things over between Williams and the Phantoms. However, it may take a bit longer with Lehigh Valley fans. Williams admitted to Weiss that he’s had some death threats over the hit.
The absence of Williams and Martel in the lineups allowed another player to experience playing in the Outdoor Classic. For Hershey, Hubert Labrie was in the lineup.
“One of the hardest decisions to make as a coach is telling a guy he’s not playing on a regular night...obviously the Williams thing was a league decision, so that would have been a tough one as well because Hubert Labrie would have missed it,” said Mann.
Moving forward, Williams will be available when Hershey returns to the ice Wednesday night at Giant Center. Martel, who is out indefinitely, cannot say the same.
Both certainly wish things had played out differently. What remains to be seen is how this affects them in future game situations.
