Darren Helm Collides with Jerome Verrier, Both Out for the Time Being
TRAVERSE CITY -- Well, hockey is here. Feels good, doesn't it? Not so fast. The Red Wings commenced training camp this morning in an unlikable fashion when camp invite Jerome Verrier collided with Darren Helm during a drill:
Violent collision between Helm and one of the junior players , Verrier, during drill. Helm is fine...the kid is not unfortunately.
— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) September 18, 2015 For the record, Verrier was moving his head when stretchered off. Hope he's OK. He was down on the ice for quite a while. :(
— Michelle (@Slapshotg0al) September 18, 2015 The collision started 15 minutes after camp had started, and left both players on the ice. While Darren Helm was able to get up on his own and skate off the ice, Jerome Verrier was stretchered off. The 195-pound winger from Drummondville's status is unknown as of right now.
Despite being able to leave the ice under his own power, Darren Helm is being withheld from on-ice activities for the time being. We'll update the status of these players as information becomes available.
UPDATE (9/18 11:45 AM ET)
Wings said Helm (head) being checked at hospital as precaution. Might have update later.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) September 18, 2015 It appears that Helm is getting checked out as precaution, though the fact that it could be his head is a bit concerning. Hopefully Verrier is okay. He was a player that I could have seen earning an ELC with the Wings.
UPDATE (9/18 1:35 PM ET)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RedWings?src=hash">#RedWings</a> Blashill said Darren Helm going through concussion protocol, Jerome Verrier has a broken leg.</p>— Dana Wakiji (@Dwakiji) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dwakiji/status/644927501454589954">September 18, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Awful news for Jerome Verrier. Wishing him a speedy recovery. Hopefully Helm passes through concussion protocol, and can play in the preseason.