As hockey fans it’s pretty easy to forget how dangerous the game can really be, but you will be quickly reminded by a photo from the Tampa Bay/Washington series.
One of the easiest things to overlook is the dangers of travelling around the ice on a pair of freshly sharpened blades every game. Add in some body contact that can send limbs flailing in any which direction and it would seem like a recipe for disaster. Considering all that, hockey really has escaped without many serious lacerations in its history (Clint Malarchuk and Richard Zednik are the most severe.
Another risk in the game is eye injuries, which is something we tragically saw with Bryan Berard. Still, we often come close to what would be a horrific injury and this photo perfectly captures that.
Thank goodness Kunitz is okay after that, and now he’ll be playing in a Game 7 to try and go to his third straight Cup Final.
With the development of Kevlar neck guards in recent years, you have to wonder if players might eventually start rocking the Tomas Plekanec turtle neck a little more. Obviously Kuntiz’s risk wasn’t with the neck, but people have already started protecting their eyes.
Clearly the neck is one of the more vulnerable spots and we’ve already been close to another neck injury this year. Yikes.
