Nottingham Panthers netminder returns home as forward suffers injury blow

Nottingham Panthers have announced that netminder Hunter Vorva has travelled back to his hometown of Kalamazoo in the United States because of a family emergency.

The 28-year-old joined the Panthers in the summer. After a delayed arrival because of injury, he made two appearances, the latest of which came in as 4-1 victory over Manchester Storm on November 24.

Nottingham Panthers CEO Omar Pacha said: “All our thoughts are with Hunter and his family, and the club sends them our best wishes and support.

“Hunter was devastated to receive the news as he was thoroughly enjoying his time in Nottingham and had made a great start.

“Due to the nature of the situation, we do not expect Hunter to return to the Panthers this season. We hope that he can find himself a spot on his local team to carry on his career.

“Once again, we wish Hunter and his family all the best and hope to see him back in Nottingham in the near future.”

Meanwhile, Panthers forward Matt Alfaro has been ruled out of action for around a month with an upper body injury.

Alfaro was injured during the third period of last Sunday’s victory over the Storm and saw a specialist earlier this week.

Nottingham will also be without Tim Doherty and defenceman Cooper Zech this weekend due to injury.

The Panthers, who come into the weekend seventh in the Elite League standings, visit Sheffield Steelers on Saturday night before hosting Dundee Stars the following day.