Blades defenceman Dalton Thrower booted from Memorial Cup for head hit

SASKATOON – Saskatoon Blades defenceman Dalton Thrower has played his last game at the MasterCard Memorial Cup.

The Canadian Hockey League has suspended Thrower for the rest of the tournament for his check to the head on Portland Winterhawks forward Taylor Leier.

Thrower hit Leier as he cut into the Blades’ zone in the first period of Portland’s 4-2 on Thursday night. A bloodied Leier lay motionless before being helped off the ice. There was no penalty called on the play.

The six-foot, 197-pound Thrower was selected in the second round of last year’s NHL draft by the Montreal Canadiens. The 19-year-old from North Vancouver, B.C., had six goals, 21 assists and 89 penalty minutes in 54 games for the Blades this season.

Leier, a 19-year-old fourth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2012, had 27 goals and 35 assists in 64 games with Portland this season. The five-foot-11, 178-pound Saskatoon native has one goal and two assists at the Memorial Cup.

The Blades meet the London Knights in Thursday’s tiebreaker game, with the winner moving on to face Portland in Friday’s semifinal.