Player recovering from tendon injury
Joey Bizzaro, 17, of Sayville, a hockey player on the Connetquot/Sayville T-Birds High School Varsity team, sits with his father, Joe Bizzaro, after having surgury to his hand due to it being run over by a skate during a game. (Jan. 10, 2012) Credit: Newsday/Jessica Rotkiewicz
High school hockey player Joseph Bizzaro is recovering from a scary injury suffered Monday night when an opponent's skate sliced his right forearm during a game, according to his father.
The Sayville senior was taken by ambulance to Stony Brook University Medical Center, where he underwent surgery.
"He had three hours of surgery to repair tendons," his father, Joseph Bizzaro, said Tuesday night. "He is OK. He will be in a soft cast for four to six weeks, then he'll do some rehabilitation."
A spokesman for the hospital said a surgeon repaired Bizzaro's extensor tendon and that the player was in good condition.
Bizzaro, who is not expected to play again this season, was injured with five minutes left in Connetquot-Sayville's 5-3 win over Smithtown at The Rinx in Hauppauge.
"I lost my stick," the 5-7, 150-pound Bizzaro said from his hospital bed. "The puck was on the boards, I dove to try and grab it and the [unidentified opponent] tried to jump over me and cut me when he jumped. I have to be a little more careful, I guess."
The Bizzaro family praised The Rinx athletic trainer Steven Aracri, who was the first to treat Bizzaro, who was bleeding profusely. "I didn't have any bandages big enough," Aracri said. "I just took paper towels and wrapped him."
Connetquot-Sayville coach Bruce Kollmar said the injury shook up his team. "It was pretty somber right after it happened," he said. "It's not just fun and games; people can get hurt."
Kollmar visited Bizzaro in the hospital last night. "He was in good spirits," Kollmar said. "His buddies were there and they were joking around. . . . Now it's a long road to recovery."
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association sanctions hockey in many sections, but it is considered a "club" sport on Long Island and is not funded by the schools or regulated by Nassau and Suffolk counties.
With Ian Cutler
