Dany Heatley and Dan Snyder of the Atlanta Thrashers were in a serious motor vehicle accident Monday night that has left Heatley with a broken jaw and Snyder in critical condition.
From Canadian Press, by way of mytelus.com:
Thrashers' Heatley charged in crash; Snyder in critical condition
ATLANTA (CP) - Atlanta Thrashers star Dany Heatley has been charged with driving recklessly after his Ferrari veered off the road and slammed into a wall Monday night, leaving him with a broken jaw and teammate Dan Snyder critically injured. The Thrashers said Snyder, a passenger in the car, had surgery early Tuesday at Grady Memorial Hospital for a depressed fracture in his skull. Heatley broke his left jaw and was in stable condition, the team said.
Atlanta police spokesman Sgt. John Quigley said Heatley was driving his black Ferrari shortly before 11 p.m. Monday when the car left the road and struck a wall in front of an apartment complex.
Police told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the car hit a wall at about 130 km/h, and that Snyder was ejected from the vehicle.
The vehicle broke in half, Quigley said. Heatley also was charged with serious injury by vehicle because a passenger was injured.
The 22-year-old Heatley, the NHL rookie of the year in 2001-02, led Atlanta in scoring last season with a team-record 41 goals and 48 assists, and is the Thrashers' career scoring leader with 155 points. He scored four goals in the 2003 all-star game and was selected the MVP.
Heatley's role as a rising star in the league was underlined recently when Electronic Arts made him the cover boy of its NHL 2004 video game.
The former University of Wisconsin player was the second overall pick in the 2000 draft.
Parents of both Heatley and Snyder rushed to the airport for flights to Atlanta.
"We don't know anything," Murray Heatley told the Journal-Constitution en route to the airport in Calgary. "We just know they were in a bad accident. We're praying for (Dany). We're hoping and praying for Dan Snyder."
Snyder, who scored 10 goals and added four assists in 36 games for Atlanta last season, had surgery on his ankle earlier this month before the start of training camp. He was expected to start the season on the injured list, possibly becoming a fourth-line player when healthy again.
The 25-year-old signed with the Thrashers as a free agent in 1999 after playing four seasons of junior hockey for Owen Sound in the Ontario Hockey League.
He spent most of his first two professional seasons in the minor leagues, helping Orlando win the International Hockey League title in 2000-01 and playing on the Chicago Wolves' American Hockey League championship team in 2001-02. He played 35 games for Chicago last season, scoring 11 goals and adding 12 assists.
The Thrashers last played Saturday night, with Heatley scoring an overtime goal in a 3-2 exhibition victory over Nashville in Richmond, Va.
Atlanta is scheduled to play Florida at home on Wednesday night and complete its pre-season schedule Friday night at home against Nashville. The Thrashers' first regular-season game is Oct. 9 against Columbus.
Yikes. Here's hoping that both are ok and can return to their teams as soon as possible.
"...Don't the sun look angry through the trees? Don't the trees look like crucified thieves?" --Warren Zevon, Desperadoes Under the Eaves
All hopes to Heatley and Snyder for a speedy recovery, and I hope alcohol wasn't a factor in the crash.
That said, I bet a LOT of fantasy hockey teams just got messed up. Heatley was ranked #21 by Yahoo in their pre-rankings. I'm glad the Wiener draft is Oct. 7.
“To get ass, you’ve got to bring ass." -- Roy Jones Jr.
I wish both guys a speedy recovery because obviously you never want to see someone get hurt like that, but above all else I'm just glad that no outside parties were injured. In the end, Heatley was being stupid and is at fault, whether alcohol was involved or not. If it takes a broken jaw and a badly injured friend for him to learn how to drive responsibly and save his recklessness from injuring an innocent bystander(s), well, callous as this may be to say, so be it.
Originally posted by BigVitoMarkI wish both guys a speedy recovery because obviously you never want to see someone get hurt like that, but above all else I'm just glad that no outside parties were injured. In the end, Heatley was being stupid and is at fault, whether alcohol was involved or not. If it takes a broken jaw and a badly injured friend for him to learn how to drive responsibly and save his recklessness from injuring an innocent bystander(s), well, callous as this may be to say, so be it.
NYI won this afternoon, so if they can beat NJ tomorrow then they're in. MY hope is that the leafs win by 20 tonight, and then the Islanders beat NJ in a shootout tomorrow.
Thread rated: 4.50
#
#
