Swiss hockey player paralyzed after hit

[HadThomasVokounOnFortSt 878]

When I see this I think of the home state Minnesota high school kid, Jack Jablonski.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Dirty hit.

[chances14 227]

One thing I remember growing up was there was a class or series of on ice sessions that taught everyone there on how to properly deliver a body check and how to take a hit. First thing you learn is if you are going to get hit, get against the boards. 9/10 times you won't get hurt. The moment you're even a foot away from the boards, you're vulnerable and risk injury. I know for a fact that I wasn't taught to engage a player before getting to the boards. Maybe this is a new teaching or it is just people being scared to be hit (and not knowing any better), but I see this play a lot now in the NHL. In this case, clearly, it isn't a wise decision.

i was taught the same thing. I was always the smallest player on the ice but i was never afraid to take a hit. as long as you know how to line yourself up against the boards you will be fine the majority of the time. i would have never tried to engage a player like that going into the boards, especially one that much bigger than me.

[Mater_Horn 10]

One thing I remember growing up was there was a class or series of on ice sessions that taught everyone there on how to properly deliver a body check and how to take a hit. First thing you learn is if you are going to get hit, get against the boards. 9/10 times you won't get hurt. The moment you're even a foot away from the boards, you're vulnerable and risk injury. I know for a fact that I wasn't taught to engage a player before getting to the boards. Maybe this is a new teaching or it is just people being scared to be hit (and not knowing any better), but I see this play a lot now in the NHL. In this case, clearly, it isn't a wise decision.

Exactly.

Yet, for this situation in particular, I am very sorry for what has happened to Ronny Keller. I wish him and his family the very best for the future.

Of course, such accidents may happen anytime, in any league, including the NHL.

Are there any rules or amendments otherwise that could be changed to avoid such incidents? I doubt it. There are some discussion now in Switzerland on whether "Flexbanden" (i.e., the more flexible bands (huh?) that are standard in most NHL arenas (sorry, don't know what the actual English expression for Flexbande is...)) could have avoided this injury, and the general consense appears to be "no, they couldn't". So, it semms that we're left with the "if you play hockey, you may get paralyzed".... Sad.

[Mater_Horn 10]

Two more things.

a) I don't think that Schnyder (the attacking player) is guilty. He certainly didn't want to hurt his opponent. They used to be team-mates.

b) Both teams agreed to continue their playoff games after this accident, even though the League offered to postpone the series. Langenthal (the team without the paralyzed player) won the 3rd game 6-5 in OT.