MSU Recruit DeBlouw Injured

Last Saturday night's USHL game between the Muskegon Lumberjacks and US U18 team was a pretty ugly affair that included 222 total penalty minutes and goalies Matt McNeely and Paul Berrafato squaring off for a fight.

But the scariest situation of the game came when Muskegon's Matt DeBlouw left the game after an on-ice collision and had to be taken to the hospital, where he stayed for the rest of the weekend, for a serious injury.

I received an update on DeBlouw today and the good news is that there should be no long-term effects. DeBlouw suffered an injury to his spleen during the collision, in what sounds like just a matter of getting hit in the wrong spot. It was a pretty serious injury and likely the earliest he could return to playing hockey would be February, or he could be out for the entire year. Luckily, as a late-'93 birthdate, DeBlouw was penciled in to play another year for Muskegon next season before heading to Michigan State, and will be healthy again by his NHL Draft year, so hopefully this doesn't set him back too much. Still, best wishes to a speedy recovery go out to him.