Slovakia's Michal Sersen and Canada's Alexandre Burrows, left, fall to ice during match Canada vs Slovakia of 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships in Helsinki on Friday, 4 May, 2012.Martti Kainulainen/The Associated Press
Canadian forward Alex Burrows is expected to miss at least two games at the IIHF World Hockey Championship while recovering from a head injury.
The winger was said to be symptom-free one day after being left woozy by an accidental collision in the tournament-opener on Friday, but will be kept off the ice another four or five days for observation, according to Hockey Canada.
As a result, Burrows missed Saturday's game against the U.S. and will be kept out of Monday's game against France as well.
His recovery will be monitored by team doctor Brian Benson, who helped develop the NHL's concussion protocol. The Canadian team wanted to exercise extreme caution even though Burrows wasn't experiencing any post-concussion symptoms on Saturday.
"We've got enough players and we'd never put any player in a situation that would be compromising," said general manager Kevin Lowe. "You could tell today that he was in a good place."
Burrows suffered his injury just before the midway point of Friday's 3-2 victory over Slovakia. He was cruising in the offensive zone and collided with two Slovak players before hitting his head on the ice.
The Canadian team grew by one Saturday when defenceman Marc Methot was officially registered after recovering from a minor groin issue. Kyle Quincey, another blue-liner, is scheduled to arrive in Helsinki on Sunday.
His addition will give Canada eight defencemen — including junior prospect Ryan Murray — but Lowe thinks the depth is important. The 26-year-old Quincey was a late cut for Canada's 2005 world junior team and will get his first official national team experience at this event.
"(Quincey) is still young, but we needed a guy with experience," said Lowe. "You need an insurance policy over here. The pace of play is high and the games are quicker with no TV timeouts. Players can also get injured."