Whoskins
12-02-2008, 09:02 AM
Flying skate severs player's artery
Herald Sun
February 12, 2008 12:00am
FLORIDA Panthers National Hockey League player Richard Zednik required lifesaving surgery after a teammate's skate severed his carotid artery during a match.
Zednik is in stable condition in hospital in Buffalo, New York State after losing a significant amount of blood during yesterday's game against the Buffalo Sabres.
Zednik, a forward, was sliced across the right side of the throat by teammate Olli Jokinen's skate in a frightening accident midway through the third period of Buffalo's 5-3 victory.
Canada's Sportsnet cable-TV network reported on its website that the skate blade just missed cutting the jugular vein.
Zednik was circling the net behind the play and skating into the corner just when Jokinen was upended by Sabres forward Clarke MacArthur.
Jokinen fell headfirst to the ice, and his right leg and skate flew up and struck Zednik directly on the side of the neck.
Clutching his neck, Zednik left a trail of blood as he somehow had the capacity to race three-quarters the length of the ice to the Panthers bench.
He almost fell into the arms of trainer Dave Zenobi, who immediately placed a towel on the player's throat.
With the help of defender Jassen Cullimore, Zednik was escorted up the tunnel behind the bench and loaded into an ambulance.
The Panthers made arrangements to have Zednik's wife, Jessica, fly from South Florida to Buffalo by a charter flight.
"It's something really unfortunate,'' Panthers head coach Jacques Martin said.
"It's scary, something you don't wish to see. I just hope he comes out of it fine.''
The two coaches got together to discuss whether or not to finish the game.
Only when told Zednik was in a stable condition and on his way to hospital did they decide to continue with the game.
"From that point on it wasn't about the game any more,'' Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said.
"I just told my players our thoughts should be with the player that just went by our bench.''
Buffalo forward Derek Roy said the score was the last thing on the mind of the players on both teams at the end of the game.
"You never want to see that happen to anybody,'' Roy said.
"He's a veteran player who has been in the league a long time. It's good to see he is doing well right now.''
Zednik has 15 goals, 11 assists and 43 penalty minutes in 54 games this season.
He also represented his native Slovakia in the 2006 Winter Olympics, scoring one goal in six games.
It was the second skate cut incident in the NHL in two days.
Veteran NHL linesman Pat Dapuzzo was injured when Philadelphia Flyer's Steve Downie inadvertently struck Dapuzzo in the face with his skate in a game between Philadelphia and New York on Saturday.
The 25-year veteran suffered cuts to his nose, cheek and jaw requiring dozens of stitches to close.
Herald Sun
February 12, 2008 12:00am
FLORIDA Panthers National Hockey League player Richard Zednik required lifesaving surgery after a teammate's skate severed his carotid artery during a match.
Zednik is in stable condition in hospital in Buffalo, New York State after losing a significant amount of blood during yesterday's game against the Buffalo Sabres.
Zednik, a forward, was sliced across the right side of the throat by teammate Olli Jokinen's skate in a frightening accident midway through the third period of Buffalo's 5-3 victory.
Canada's Sportsnet cable-TV network reported on its website that the skate blade just missed cutting the jugular vein.
Zednik was circling the net behind the play and skating into the corner just when Jokinen was upended by Sabres forward Clarke MacArthur.
Jokinen fell headfirst to the ice, and his right leg and skate flew up and struck Zednik directly on the side of the neck.
Clutching his neck, Zednik left a trail of blood as he somehow had the capacity to race three-quarters the length of the ice to the Panthers bench.
He almost fell into the arms of trainer Dave Zenobi, who immediately placed a towel on the player's throat.
With the help of defender Jassen Cullimore, Zednik was escorted up the tunnel behind the bench and loaded into an ambulance.
The Panthers made arrangements to have Zednik's wife, Jessica, fly from South Florida to Buffalo by a charter flight.
"It's something really unfortunate,'' Panthers head coach Jacques Martin said.
"It's scary, something you don't wish to see. I just hope he comes out of it fine.''
The two coaches got together to discuss whether or not to finish the game.
Only when told Zednik was in a stable condition and on his way to hospital did they decide to continue with the game.
"From that point on it wasn't about the game any more,'' Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said.
"I just told my players our thoughts should be with the player that just went by our bench.''
Buffalo forward Derek Roy said the score was the last thing on the mind of the players on both teams at the end of the game.
"You never want to see that happen to anybody,'' Roy said.
"He's a veteran player who has been in the league a long time. It's good to see he is doing well right now.''
Zednik has 15 goals, 11 assists and 43 penalty minutes in 54 games this season.
He also represented his native Slovakia in the 2006 Winter Olympics, scoring one goal in six games.
It was the second skate cut incident in the NHL in two days.
Veteran NHL linesman Pat Dapuzzo was injured when Philadelphia Flyer's Steve Downie inadvertently struck Dapuzzo in the face with his skate in a game between Philadelphia and New York on Saturday.
The 25-year veteran suffered cuts to his nose, cheek and jaw requiring dozens of stitches to close.