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.”
