Talk about getting close to the action.
With 6:25 left in the first period of the first game at Amsoil Arena, the University of Minnesota Duluth's Mike Connolly went for a check on the University of North Dakota's Corban Knight and missed. Connolly slammed into the plexiglass above the boards in Section 105. The glass shattered, and Connolly nearly took out the Duluth News Tribune's editorial board.
Connolly landed between News Tribune Publisher Ken Browall and his son Ben. Chuck Frederick, the paper's editorial page editor, was sitting to their right with his wife, Julie.
"I saw them coming and I thought this was going to be right in front of us," Frederick said. "When they hit the glass they just kept coming."
Shattered glass covered at least three rows, Frederick said. Four people were treated by arena personnel for minor injuries: Frederick, who had a cut on his hand; Ken Browall and Ben Browall, who had cuts on their heads and faces; and a UMD cheerleader who was kneeling in the aisle next to Ben when the glass shattered. She had cuts on her legs, Frederick said.
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Frederick said he'd never been at a hockey game where that happened before.
"You see it on highlight reels on ESPN," he said. "To have it happen right in front of you, that's pretty wild."
The game was halted for about 25 minutes while the glass was replaced.
