Brian Maloney is as tough as anyone on the Spartan hockey team.
The junior left wing from Bassano, Alberta is MSU’s enforcer on the ice - methodically antagonizing the other team and administering bone-rattling body checks. In the first period of MSU’s 4-3 win over Bowling Green on Friday, he delivered a sucker punch to a Falcon player trailing behind the play.
Things were normal.
Then, with 4:11 to play in the second period, Maloney crumpled to the ice after missing a check and ramming awkwardly into the boards behind the Bowling Green net. He lay there, mostly motionless, for about five minutes as the Munn Ice Arena crowd grew worried.
He was in obvious pain as he was helped off the ice and transported to Sparrow Hospital, 1215 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing. The diagnosis came the next day - two cracked ribs, a lacerated left kidney and the end of his season.
“I knew something was wrong right away,” Maloney said from Sparrow on Sunday afternoon. “I drove my own elbow into my side. It didn’t look like much, but it sure did enough damage.
“I’ve broken ribs before, but my body just shut down (Friday). I couldn’t move anything. I couldn’t even try to bend my knees to get up. I was gasping for air until I got to the hospital.”
Maloney, 23, said he’ll be discharged from the hospital sometime this week, although he’s been advised to avoid strenuous physical activity for three months. His kidney is still bleeding a little bit, but he said “everything’s coming along nicely.”
“They’re holding onto me here to make sure my kidney’s all right and doesn’t clot,” said Maloney, who has a career-high 17 goals this season and is second on MSU with 33 points. “It’s just a little bump in the road. This is the first time I’ve ever missed games because of injury. I’ve been suspended for fighting in juniors before, but I haven’t been hurt in about six years.
“It could have been worse - it could have happened earlier and I would have missed the whole season. But it’s kinda crappy that I’m not on the ice with my teammates. That’s what I’m most mad at.”
Maloney’s teammates haven’t forgotten their fallen comrade. Moments after MSU completed its sweep of Bowling Green with a 4-2 win Saturday, assistant coach Dave McAuliffe dialed Maloney’s hospital room and the Spartans sang the “Michigan State Fight Song” to him via speakerphone.
“It was a pretty emotional moment,” said Maloney, who plans to travel with the team to Joe Louis Arena this weekend.
Without him in the lineup, it appears freshman left wing Brock Radunske will inherit Maloney’s spot on the top line alongside freshman center Jim Slater and senior right wing Adam Hall. Radunske assisted on Hall’s game-winning goal Friday after a midgame promotion to the No. 1 line.
But Maloney also was a key cog of MSU’s power play and penalty killing units, and the absence of his scoring touch could haunt the Spartans in the playoffs.
“You can’t replace Brian Maloney on that left side,” Slater said. “Malone is a big part of this team and he’ll always be with us however far we go. Just to have him there in spirit and everything like that is great.”
But Maloney’s spirit won’t put pucks in the net or lay body checks on opposing players. Junior defenseman John-Michael Liles said the Spartans have to pull together to compensate.
“It’s tough any time a player goes down, let alone Brian Maloney,” Liles said. “He’s a huge part of this team and, not only myself, but all the guys feel for him. You never wish that upon anybody.
“We’ll be there supporting him no matter what happens.”
