On Saturday night, the Bruins' Jeremy Reich did his very best to break the neck of the Sabres' Mike Weber. The hit itself wasn't really malicious, but it did send Weber headfirst into the boards for what looks like an ugly introduction to paraplegia.
Amazingly, Weber was able to get up and even returned to the game later on. Which just goes to show what I've said all along: Jeremy Reich can't paralyze his way out of a brown paper bag.
[Fan IQ]
Florida Panthers winger Richard Zednik is in stable condition today after teammate Olli Jokinen, upended on the ice, inadvertently sliced open Zednik's neck during the third period of last night's 5-3 loss in Buffalo against the Sabres. The injury is so gruesome and bloody that it calls to mind Clint Malarchuk's similar injury on the Buffalo ice almost 20 years ago, and so horrific that I've watched the video of it about eight times this morning.
Jokinen fell headfirst to the ice, and his right leg flew up and struck Zednik directly on the side of the neck. Clutching his neck, Zednik somehow had the capacity to race the three-quarters length of the ice to the Panthers bench, where he nearly fell into the arms of trainer Dave Zenobi, who immediately placed a towel on the player's throat [see thumbnailed picture]…
Play resumed after a 15-minute delay, during which time crews scraped the blood off the ice and the surface was cleaned by Zambonis.
Videos of the accident keep getting taken down by the NHL fun police, but of course the NHL is too incompetent to have a decent video player on its own site, so I'll let you peruse a YouTube search of "Zednik neck" at your leisure. I have to warn you: you probably shouldn't watch the video if you're a pussy. The amount of blood that hits the ice before Zednik even finishes falling is kind of amazing. It's like Tarantino directed a Mighty Ducks movie.
There's not a whole lot I can say about yesterday's Winter Classic between the Penguins and Sabres that isn't better said somewhere else, so I'll just tip my hat to the NHL for for its pretty awesome marketing ploy, to the Pens and Sabes for playing a hell of a game, to Sidney Crosby for being better at hockey than anyone else alive, and to the city of Buffalo for being a crappy place to live in the winter, because all that snow looks great on TV.
If you need to get caught up to speed, check out FanHaus's live blog, which is pretty solid except for this:
And as the NHL Network crew suggested, if the NFL can make Thanksgiving Day synonymous with football, there's no reason the NHL can't find a niche of its own on New Year's Day.
Actually, I kinda think college football beat hockey to the punch for New Year's Day. President's Day is still open, though.
[Also see: Going Five Hole, The Ice Sheet]
Photo: Getty Images
In what seems like an extraordinarily bad idea, the Buffalo Sabres will host the Pittsburgh Penguins in an outdoor game at Ralph Wilson Stadium on January 1st:
[Sam] Flood, NBC’s coordinating producer for hockey, already is dreaming of the visuals that could be conjured at the NHL Winter Classic . . . “I’d like a dusting,” Flood said. “The visual of the breath . . . if you’re in the 20s, and you look down the bench and see all the players there, breath coming out. And out of Ryan Miller’s goalie mask you see the breath coming out. That’s pretty cool. You don’t see that inside the buildings.”
Obviously Mr. Flood never attended a Catholic grammar school during a Chicago winter. Those nuns would never turn the damn furnace on, and when someone would complain about the bone-chilling cold, they'd say "Offer it up to God." Offer what? Hypothermia? I don't think the Father Almighty wants that. I hope the Sabres massacre those fucking Penguins. Although I'll never know because like every good American I watch 14 hours of college football after my mom bails me out of the drunk tank every New Year's Day. -KD
(More at SPORTSbyBROOKS and PopJocks.)
As you certainly know from With Leather's extensive, non-stop NHL coverage, the Senators missed their chance to sweep the Sabres in the Eastern Conference finals last night, falling 3-2 on their Canadian home ice. And a couple Senators fans didn't exactly handle the loss well.
Sean Luck said his wife, Renee Luck, who was wearing Buffalo Sabres colours and logos, was walking in front of him through the corridors of Scotiabank Place as they tried to leave the stadium with about six other Sabres fans. "Two guys… as they were walking out, punched my wife four times — in the head," Luck said. "They just seemed like they were pissed off because the Senators lost." Luck said his wife has two large bumps on her forehead, one on her cheek and a cut on her cheek from the assault.
Man, if I had a nickel every time I assaulted a woman wearing opponents' colors when my team lost… wait, did I say "nickel"? I meant "30 to 90 days in jail." But totally worth it. Great stress reliever.
Disclaimers: The Senators fans shown here are not the suspects in question; also, 289 is a Sabres fan, which explains a little.
As the Ducks prepare for Game 4 of their series against the Red Wings (which Detroit leads 2-1), they'll have to try to even the series without their primary enforcer, Chris Pronger. Pronger was suspended one game for the above hit on the Wings' Tomas Holmstrom. I guess you're not allowed to skate at someone full speed and crush his head against the glass any more. Just one more way hockey's been watered down.
In other hockey news, the Sabres took Game 4 against the Sens to avoid getting swept, which might be more impressive if they weren't the number one seed in the conference and favored by many before the playoffs to win the Cup. But still: good work, Sabes. Game 5 is Saturday afternoon in Buffalo for those interested. Both of you.
