Blackhawks coach Craig Hartsburg didn’t take kindly to comments made Monday by former team doctor Louis Kolb, who accused Hartsburg of making Alex Zhamnov practice on his sprained right ankle last Tuesday.
“To accuse me of making a player practice . . . I wouldn’t want that as a player or a coach,” Hartsburg said Tuesday morning. “He’s lying, trying to protect himself. We made a huge mistake letting this guy work with our players. I’m happy he’s leaving.”
Kolb resigned Sunday, claiming owner Bill Wirtz called him “incompetent” in his handling of Zhamnov’s injury and accused him of conspiring to help Colorado win the series.
The Hawks are convinced Zhamnov’s ankle became infected under Kolb’s care, knocking him out of the series. Kolb says three infectious-disease specialists agreed with his claim that the culture in which blood from Zhamnov’s ankle was tested must have been contaminated and that the ankle really wasn’t infected, but that he had to treat it as if it were.
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Zhamnov, who said he wasn’t forced to practice, underwent arthroscopic surgery Friday. What angered Hawks management was that Kolb didn’t perform the surgery–the Colorado Avalanche’s team doctor, Andrew Parker, did.
Management cited miscommunication for Kolb’s resignation.