While his teammates rode the bus to Port Huron on Tuesday, Komets forward Brad MacMillan stayed home to serve the first of a five-game suspension for elbowing Kalamazoo's Glenn Detulleo on Saturday night.
"It's unfortunate, and I had no intention of hurting Glenn,” MacMillan said. “I played with him for two years in Missouri. It happened to work out that my elbow hit him in the chin, but I wasn't going to hit him in the head. I'm not a dirty player even though I have a lot of penalty minutes and I lead the league in majors. I don't think I have one charging, boarding or instigation call. I feel horrible about this.”
MacMillan said though he did not mean to, he definitely did hit Detulleo with his elbow.
"I had no intention of going out to do that,” MacMillan said. “I feel awful that Glenn is hurt. If I wanted to hurt somebody, I'm going to give them an opportunity to fight me. That's just how I am personally. I'm not a meathead, and I'm not out there just to hurt guys.”
MacMillan said he is friends with Detulleo and his wife and will contact them soon.
"I love the guy, but I hate it when he does this, he tries to change levels on you and sneak through,” MacMillan said. “My whole plan was to stop him from pinching to get between me and the boards. I just wanted to get tight on the board and stop him from getting by.
"I was just kind of bracing for impact and it was a combination of that and what he does to elude hits. I had no intention of doing it, and I feel awful for Glenn. He's not the kind of guy who deserves something like that. He works hard and plays hard and he's not dirty. It's just unfortunate.”
International Hockey League Vice President of Hockey Operations Brad Jones said he felt the five games was necessary because the infraction was a blow to the head. MacMillan said he does not agree with the length of the suspension, but he will accept it.
“I'm just going to take the time to heal up and rest a bit,” he said. “I have a few nagging injuries that could use some time.”
Comments
Thanks for going out and actually talking to Brad about the suspension instead of just harping on just how bad it was and not allowing Brad a place to speak. Great job
Can anyone out there
Respond (homers)
Or update me are
We winning i am mobile.
Komets won 2-1 in overtime. Shaf scored in final moment of regulation and in the first minute or so of OT.
Tonight what a great win by the K's and the "Old Man" Shaf gets both goals!! It was a great team effort because Port Huron for the most part out play them for 57 mins of the game. Nick was solid and made key saves. All I can say it was a "play-off" type game and a great one to watch these two teams play. GREAT WIN K's...How is that Burgee
Komets stole one there. Boucher gave them a chance to win by keeping them in the game.
I hope that Al comes up with an answer to their forechecking scheme. Drulia had us bottled up in our own zone all night.
I am very impressed by the play of Legault since he has been back. The whole team plays a little bigger when he is in the lineup and the other teams don't take nearly as many liberties with our skill guys. I think the Flint games are a good example. Without Legualt, Littlejohn was all over Huk and our other forwards, but when Legault returned to the lineup he was very docile.
Keep Legs in the lineup!!!!
I think that Drulia is a very good coach. He always designs schemes to neutralize our speed. Hopefully we have an answer for Friday and beyond.
Go K's!
BTW......Thanks for posting Mac's comments. He is a standup guy and I am glad he is a Komet.
Very positive Toe!
Blake,
Thanks for allowing Brad to comment on what happened. From what I have seen and heard on your video interview with him, MacMillan sounds like a very sincere person.
I am convinced that Brad feels terrible about this incident.
the key with Legualt..is he is finally healthy...that shoulder has bugged him all season...now he's 100% he is playing well...
It's nice to here what Mac had to say about the call- the video was way inconclusive about what happened. Hopefully this gets put to rest now. Love the fact that Legs is playing well. He needs to stay in the lineup. With him and Mac in there, I think it makes a big difference. We don't have to worry about Mac having to fight everybody. He finally has some backup with Legs out there.