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Hockey Injuries

Hockey injuries are instances of physical trauma that occur during hockey games or practices. Given the inherently violent nature of hockey, and ice hockey in particular, it is not surprising that brutal injuries frequently arise from hockey games. In recorded hockey history, there have so far been two fatalities that arose from hockey injuries, and several instances of injuries very nearly resulting in death.

Clint Malarchuk 1989 Hockey InjuryClint Malarchuk's neck gets cut and blood is spilt on ice. This caused the invention of neck guards in the NHL.
Richard Zednik Hockey Throat CutFlorida Panthers forward Richard Zednik's gets his throat slashed by teammate Olli Jokinen. There was blood all over the ice.

More Info About Hockey Injuries

All hockey games involve a great deal of physical confrontation. This occurs most frequently in the form of body checks, which involve one player slamming another into the side of the rink with his or her shoulder. Occasionally, this results in the player on the receiving end of the check developing a concussion upon impact. Perhaps the worst injuries are those that involve a player being slashed by the blade of another player’s skate. One such instance of this type of injury occurred in 1989, when Buffalo Sabres goaltender Clint Malarchuk took a skate to the throat, which slashed his internal carotid artery and left him bleeding profusely from the neck. Malarchuk would have died on the ice had it not been for his team’s trainer, who reached into Malarchuk’s neck and pinched the severed artery to stem the bleeding until paramedics arrived on the scene. Florida Panthers player Richard Zednik sustained the exact same injury nearly 20 years later. Zednik also survived the incident.