Stoesz breaks opponent's leg in fight

Myles Stoesz has injured a few players with punches over his career. But tonight Michael Couch came out of a fight with Stoesz with a badly broken leg. According to Mississippi coach Steffon Walby, the toe of Couch's skate got caught in the ice, and he fell backwards breaking both his left fibula and tibia. Since the fight ended with Stoesz on top of Couch, it wasn't just Couch's own weight that broke it, but Stoesz's as well. Landing a whole body on him, not just a punch.

In the NHL of course, this would all be just a "lower-body injury," and thus not a very interesting story. (Speaking of lower-body injuries, we saw Van Buskirk in the elevator and he said he left the game with a charley horse.)

I didn't pull out my camera for the actual fight, though I certainly would have had enough time given how long they danced beforehand. But here are a few shots of Couch in pain and being helped off.





Both teams headed out tonight for Biloxi. Here's all the gear the Gladiators had ready to go before the game.


Biloxi is known for gambling, so I asked Stoesz about his casino wear, thinking that there was ever a chance be flashy (as he's wont to do), it's at a casino. He said he doesn't wear anything special, just whatever he was already in. This disappointed me. No snakeskin shoes? He said no, and they aren't lucky at the casino, just the rink. And he won't be hitting the casino on this trip, even though he turned $100 into $400 playing roulette last time. He said it's getting close to Christmas and he needs to spend his money on gifts instead.

He does plan to wear the lucky snakeskins to the next home game though. I'm putting him down for a win guarantee.
.