Junior hockey player critical, stable

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KITCHENER, Ontario -- A junior hockey player remains in critical condition with skull and facial fractures after a hard check into the glass during a game Friday night.

Kitchener Rangers defenseman Ben Fanelli fell to the ice after getting hit by Erie's Michael Liambas during a 4-0 victory in an Ontario Hockey League game.

Fanelli's helmet went flying during the collision, and a pool of blood from a cut on his face formed on the ice under his head. The 16-year-old player was conscious when he was airlifted to a Hamilton hospital.

Rangers CEO Steve Bienkowski said in a statement posted on the team's Web site Sunday that Fanelli was in critical but stable condition.

Liambas received a boarding penalty and was ejected from the game for delivering the hit.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

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