There are five minutes left in the Nov. 4 Gold Cup hockey game. The varsity hockey team is losing to FHHS. By the time the game ends, the Knights will have lost 2-8. Defenseman Blaine Longmore goes to check an opposing player and misses. He crashes shoulder-first into the side boards and falls to the ice, leaving him unable to move without feeling pain.

“The events that led to it happened pretty fast, but I was sitting on the ice for a while,” Blaine said. “It didn’t feel that long, but apparently I was sitting on the ice for like three minutes. They helped me off the ice, I was able to skate a little, and then they carried me out on a stretcher. And I was passing out, fading in and out of consciousness.”

The crash and the fall broke his collarbone in two places, which caused the bone to separate. For Blaine, the rest of this season will be spent recovering, and he’ll come back to playing next year, or, if his recovery goes well, he’ll return for the end of the season.

“I didn’t really know what happened, so I ran out there to see if he was OK,” senior Bryce Longmore, Blaine’s brother and teammate, said. “I didn’t think he was hurt at first. I was thinking ‘Get up, get up. You’re wasting our time.’ But I obviously figured out later [it was serious] when the ambulance had to come and get him.”

Blaine went into surgery at 11:58 a.m. the Wednesday following Gold Cup. A few hours later, his shoulder contained a titanium plate shoulder, replacing a piece of bone that had fallen out. The plate held the separated bone together.

“I guess technically [it was optional],” Blaine said. “It just wouldn’t have healed right, and I would’ve had to get surgery later. I just figured get it out of the way now.”

Whether or not Blaine will be able to return to the team depends on the condition of his shoulder and if it is healed in time. The broken collarbone can take anywhere from six to twelve weeks to heal. It won’t be until a follow-up doctor’s appointment, scheduled for Dec. 28, that Blaine will find out how long it is until he can start playing hockey again.

“He’s a good team player,” Head Coach Ryan Gannon said. “I do believe that Blaine will be trying his hardest to get back into shape. He’s still young, he’s got two more years, he’s what I deem to be a good leader on the team.”

Blaine’s absence has required the team to have other players fill his spot. Due to others being out because of serious injury and players traveling for other competitive teams, the team’s defense – Blaine’s position – has had the most gaps. The coaching staff has had to shuffle positions. With people taking roles they normally don’t, the coaches focus on which players play well together. While unable to physically help the team, Blaine does his part player by supporting them from the stands at JV and varsity games.

“It’s shown me that hockey is a dangerous sport, more dangerous than I thought it was,” Blaine said. “But I don’t really care, [in the future] I’m still going to play.”