BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Hershey Bears player Aaron Ness, a 28-year-old defenseman from Bemidji, Minnesota, and a former second-round pick by the Islanders (in 2008) has been taken off the ice on a stretcher after crashing into the goalpost and then the backboards midway through the third period of the Bears’ playoff game Friday against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the AHL affiliate of the Islanders.
The incident occurred at 8:58 of the third period in the opening game of the AHL playoffs for the teams at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Ness was racing up ice to create a two-on-one rush against Islanders goaltender Christopher Gibson when he was bumped from behind by Sound Tigers forward Travis St.