Zednik's throat cut by teammate's skate

[Yzermaniac192005 0]

i agree 100% and they wouldn't burden their play whatsoever! i don't want to see a change after someone dies, cause it seems that's what it's gonna take before players stop being so old school. if i were in the nhl i'd wear a full cage and neckgaurd. can't have too much protection really as much as these guys have no respect for where their sticks go it seems.

The thing is, all youth hockey players have to wear neck guards, its mandatory. It doesn't do a damn thing to your play at all but if a blade were to come up, it would save you. As a hockey player, I've gotta tell you, I've had a blade narrowly miss me in the face/neck a few times but never thought much of it. After this though, I'm glad I had to wear those neck guards.

[imisssergei 0]

i agree 100% and they wouldn't burden their play whatsoever! i don't want to see a change after someone dies, cause it seems that's what it's gonna take before players stop being so old school. if i were in the nhl i'd wear a full cage and neckgaurd. can't have too much protection really as much as these guys have no respect for where their sticks go it seems.

This is suck a fluke incident. Think about it. How many games have been played in the NHL this year alone, and this is the only such incident involving a player.

Besides, if the NHL won't require players to wear half shields, there is no way you will see neck guards.

I'm not sure how many of you actually play, and have tried to wear a neck guard, but the are very uncomfortable. It doesn't matter how effective a piece of equipment is, if it isn't comfortable, players won't wear it.

[DenJ91 0]

This is suck a fluke incident. Think about it. How many games have been played in the NHL this year alone, and this is the only such incident involving a player.

Besides, if the NHL won't require players to wear half shields, there is no way you will see neck guards.

I'm not sure how many of you actually play, and have tried to wear a neck guard, but the are very uncomfortable. It doesn't matter how effective a piece of equipment is, if it isn't comfortable, players won't wear it.

as far as i'm concerned, fluke or not, one time is too many and we've now had this happen twice (malarchuk). luckily it didn't seem like the referee in the flyers-rangers game was anything like this but it just never needs to happen. neckgaurds aren't that annoying. they could design them to be alittle thinner perhaps or whatever, players should just suck it up, they'll get used to it. it could save their life one day. malarchuk and zednik are lucky to be alive.

[commadore183 103]

Someone was looking out over Zednik, thank God. Glad to see that he'll recover physically, but will his mind still be in the game after this? Didn't Malarchuk have some mental trauma after his incident?

Either way, get well Zednik. No need to rush, I'm sure your team will be more than happy to wait for your return

[imisssergei 0]

as far as i'm concerned, fluke or not, one time is too many and we've now had this happen twice (malarchuk). luckily it didn't seem like the referee in the flyers-rangers game was anything like this but it just never needs to happen. neckgaurds aren't that annoying. they could design them to be alittle thinner perhaps or whatever, players should just suck it up, they'll get used to it. it could save their life one day. malarchuk and zednik are lucky to be alive.

The simple fact that no one wears them after they are no longer required to shows exactly how the players feel about them. And in my personal opinion, they are that uncomfortable.

Should all players be required to wear half shields since Yzerman was hit in the eye with a puck?

Taking it a step further, should all players be required to wear full cages since one guy, Berard, all but lost vision in one eye?

The answer is highly debatable in both these scenarios, but ultimately it's a confident 'no'.

The odds of something like this happening are so slim, you'd never get the players to agree to wearing neck guards.

[interminded 1]

Didn't Malarchuk have some mental trauma after his incident?

I'm too lazy to look it up... but as I remember correctly he practiced 3 or 4 days after the accident and a with two weeks he was playing again.

[MacK_Attack 108]

Someone was looking out over Zednik, thank God. Glad to see that he'll recover physically, but will his mind still be in the game after this? Didn't Malarchuk have some mental trauma after his incident?

His obsessive-compulsive disorder became more of an issue after his injury and he also battled alcoholism.

[toby91_ca 620]

I'm too lazy to look it up... but as I remember correctly he practiced 3 or 4 days after the accident and a with two weeks he was playing again.

True. He played a few more seasons and apparently, after retirement, suffered from OCD, but he also suffered from this during childhood, nothing to do with the incident.

[commadore183 103]

WARNING: The following describes the difference between jugular and carotid cuts, so if you get queasy from reading, just scroll past until you see my sig.

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Someone wondered about whether the jugular vein was cut or not. Every place that I have read said that the carotid artery was cut. There are two carotid arteries, one on each side of the neck. They feed blood to the brain. The right carotid artery, the one Zednik got cut, comes from the brachiocephalic artery, which branches from the aorta (the brachiocephalic artery separates into the subclavian artery, which feeds the right arm). The carotid further divides into external (closer to the surface) and internal (deeper in the neck). As far as I know, the external carotid artery was cut. Not that it was any better, but it made it easier to stem the blood flow. As it was an artery, it was under high pressure, thus the blood gushed out with each heartbeat.

The jugular is the main vein the drains blood from the head. As it doesn't have the pressure of an artery, it just flows out rather than spurts. Either cut to the vessels can be fatal if not promptly treated, but the carotid is probably the more disturbing to see as it just spurts out with the heart beat.

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Thankfully, Zednik is okay, which is the most important thing

[JayUp88 1]

you can send him a get well.

http://panthers.nhl.com/team/app/?service=...rticleid=353054

[amberlynn25 9]

i just saw the cut on TSN and was like WOW...really happy he is ok. Some One up there was looking out for him.

[timothy1997 0]

Does this incident (and the cleary incident)further move the NHL to adopt a way to protect NHL players by either adding a full cage or a neckguard added to prevent futher injuries like this to happen?

full cage

neckguard idea

Edited February 11, 2008 by timothy1997

[OsGOD 3]

^^ you almost have to wonder because they knee jerked reaction to get that netting up after that fatal incident.

[Opie 308]

Does this incident further move the NHL to adopt a way to protect NHL players by either adding a full cage or a neckpad added to prevent futher injuries like this to happen?

Watching the ESPNews coverage on my lunch break brought up two questions in my mind:

1) Why did they not follow the Jiri Fischer example and stop the game?

Was it because of the time left in the game?

Last meeting of the two?

2) Does OSHA have any jurisdiction here? After all this is their work environment. Every time they are out there, regardless of it being a game, that is there job, they are at work. Does OSHA have the ability to say "Players must do X or it is not a safe work environment."

They make construction workers wear hard hats, is it really any different?

[umredwing11 2]

YahooBlog

I read this article on yahoosports and wanted to share. This is the unfortunate reality of the nhl unless some rules are changed and some protection in the neck/face region is enforced.

Edited February 11, 2008 by umredwing11

[timothy1997 0]

Watching the ESPNews coverage on my lunch break brought up two questions in my mind:

1) Why did they not follow the Jiri Fischer example and stop the game?

Was it because of the time left in the game?

Last meeting of the two?

2) Does OSHA have any jurisdiction here? After all this is their work environment. Every time they are out there, regardless of it being a game, that is there job, they are at work. Does OSHA have the ability to say "Players must do X or it is not a safe work environment."

They make construction workers wear hard hats, is it really any different?

#1 Fischer collasped and no one knew what was wrong with him (fans and players). No one saw the injury coming and everyone was left in shock. Zednik's injury while shocking, some of the players and fans knew right away what had happened. He was stable enough to skate over to the trainer and the trainer applied pressure on his throat, probably saving his life. He was rushed off to the dressing room and eventually the hospital.

I don't think anyone would have faulted the NHL if they wanted to end the game but midway thru the 3rd and the fact that everyone saw him skate off and you knew what was wrong with him, that factors into whether the game would be stopped or cleaned up and continued. If an athlete breaks his leg, would that have been any different. Take care of the athlete, get the playing field back in playable shape and continue with the game is the basic fundemental thinking with all sports.

#2 not sure if OSHA would apply to a sport played in multiple countries, albeit 2 american teams.

[timothy1997 0]

YahooBlog

I read this article on yahoosports and wanted to share. This is the unfortunate reality of the nhl unless some rules are changed and some protection in the neck/face region is enforced.

Thats why i poised that question. The NHL is really lucky that more players haven't been effected by more incidients like this when you consider players are going to the net to deflect the puck like Holmstrom, players are diving infront of pucks to stop a slapshot and deflections can occur at any time to result in injuries like Cleary's.

[auxlepli 17]

So what's the point of that blog other than a list of near tragedies. They happen in other sports too. BFD. It's part of the risk associated with playing sports at a high level. It's also a risk to watch a game too. I've heard the warning at warm-ups. I know that going in, and I also don't need a safety net obstructing my view. It's also a risk to travel to see a game live. It's also a a risk to watch a game during a thunderstorm. More people die on the road every year, than those that attend and play a hockey game.

[wingslogo19 281]

Does this incident (and the cleary incident)further move the NHL to adopt a way to protect NHL players by either adding a full cage or a neckguard added to prevent futher injuries like this to happen?

full cage

neckguard idea

You may have a good point here.. I know when i was playing minor hockey we had to wear the cages and the neck guards. It was till i played jr hockey i didn't have to wear them.. But I wonder why some players choose not to wear the cage?.. I guess one thing i can think of, is the bars might get in the way of vision.. If anyone would like to take a guess or help me out, please do thanks

[MacK_Attack 108]

I guess one thing i can think of, is the bars might get in the way of vision.. If anyone would like to take a guess or help me out, please do thanks

Vision is the exact reason. I've worn every kind of shield & visor (including none at all) and I can tell you that in terms of vision, nothing compares to having no visor at all.

The bars can definitely be a vision hinderance if you're not used to it, but you tend not to notice it once you get used to it. That said, I found it a bit of a strain on the eyes to try and not focus on the bars.

With visors, there's a bit of vision loss at the bottom of the visor. It's most noticable when you take a peek down and can't see your feet (or the puck). I also found it harder to track the puck through the visor at fast speeds when it's in the air. Since I have to wear a visor while refereeing, I tend to tip the visor up over my eyes when the play isn't around me for better vision.

Honestly, full-face masks won't do anything to prevent freak neck cuts...the cages don't come down far enough and most neck guards don't come up high enough to protect the middle and upper portions of the neck.

Quite frankly, I don't think there's much in terms of safety that the NHL can add. There's just nothing practical that can protect the entire neck.

This type of injury is extremely rare. It's happened in the NHL twice in the past 20 years (19, really, but close enough). I don't think this is cause for a knee-jerk safety equipment mandate)

Edited February 11, 2008 by MacK_Attack

[timothy1997 0]

Vision is the exact reason. I've worn every kind of shield & visor (including none at all) and I can tell you that in terms of vision, nothing compares to having no visor at all.

The bars can definitely be a vision hinderance if you're not used to it, but you tend not to notice it once you get used to it. That said, I found it a bit of a strain on the eyes to try and not focus on the bars.

With visors, there's a bit of vision loss at the bottom of the visor. It's most noticable when you take a peek down and can't see your feet (or the puck). I also found it harder to track the puck through the visor at fast speeds when it's in the air. Since I have to wear a visor while refereeing, I tend to tip the visor up over my eyes when the play isn't around me for better vision.

Honestly, full-face masks won't do anything to prevent freak neck cuts...the cages don't come down far enough and most neck guards don't come up high enough to protect the middle and upper portions of the neck.

Quite frankly, I don't think there's much in terms of safety that the NHL can add. There's just nothing practical that can protect the entire neck.

This type of injury is extremely rare. It's happened in the NHL twice in the past 20 years (19, really, but close enough). I don't think this is cause for a knee-jerk safety equipment mandate)

You have a point with vision with regards to the full cage but the neckguard should be added to the NHL. The neckguard foesn't effect vision and definately would have helped with the Zednik injury. Worst case, the hockey player looks like he is wearing a turtleneck.

[wingslogo19 281]

Vision is the exact reason. I've worn every kind of shield & visor (including none at all) and I can tell you that in terms of vision, nothing compares to having no visor at all.

The bars can definitely be a vision hinderance if you're not used to it, but you tend not to notice it once you get used to it. That said, I found it a bit of a strain on the eyes to try and not focus on the bars.

With visors, there's a bit of vision loss at the bottom of the visor. It's most noticable when you take a peek down and can't see your feet (or the puck). I also found it harder to track the puck through the visor at fast speeds when it's in the air. Since I have to wear a visor while refereeing, I tend to tip the visor up over my eyes when the play isn't around me for better vision.

Honestly, full-face masks won't do anything to prevent freak neck cuts...the cages don't come down far enough and most neck guards don't come up high enough to protect the middle and upper portions of the neck.

Quite frankly, I don't think there's much in terms of safety that the NHL can add. There's just nothing practical that can protect the entire neck.

I know that of course, but maybe the neck guard would help.. But yeah im with you that not wearing no visor is the best for vision wise, i don't have any on for roller hockey and it's a big difference forsure

This type of injury is extremely rare. It's happened in the NHL twice in the past 20 years (19, really, but close enough). I don't think this is cause for a knee-jerk safety equipment mandate)

I agree with you mack, i don't wear a visor for roller hockey at all because of the vision factor..

Edited February 11, 2008 by wingslogo19

[MacK_Attack 108]

You have a point with vision with regards to the full cage but the neckguard should be added to the NHL. The neckguard foesn't effect vision and definately would have helped with the Zednik injury. Worst case, the hockey player looks like he is wearing a turtleneck.

The neckguard was mandated for goaltenders after the Malarchuk incident. As per usual with the NHL, or any pro sports league for that matter, it takes a severe injury or worse for these types of changes to be made.

I'm sure it'll be discussed this summer, and probably at the GM meetings next week.

[Kp-Wings 3]

This kind of thing (thankfully) doesn't happen enough to require the NHL to mandate neckguards/full shields. If it becomes a problem, then it might need to be discussed, but not now.

I hope Zednik is ok. That was such a scary looking play. Hopefully he can make a quick recovery, and be back soon.

[umredwing11 2]

Malarchuk Espn Interview

I know a lot of us were wondering about Malarchuk--ESPN just posted this about all the repercussions he's had mentally with his injury and how the Zednik thing has made him relive his incident.