Richard Zednik's Accident and My Injury

People sometimes wonder why hockey players are covered in so much equipment. The argument can be that lacrosse has the same amount of contact but with half the pads. The main reason for the pads is because skates can do a tremendous amount of damage to anyone.

Richard Zednik's accident on Sunday was a fluke accident. The artery in his neck was cut, and he underwent living saving surgery. The same procedure was done on near-paralyzed Buffalo Bill's safety Kevin Everett. It can happen to anyone at anytime. He was simply skating towards the puck, and his teammate got tripped up. Watching and playing lots of hockey over the years, I have seen my fair share of accidents. Here is my first person story of the worst injury I've had in a hockey game.

The opposing team dumped the puck deep into my zone and I circled behind my net to pick it up. As I skated around the net a member of the other team was pressuring me from behind. I attempted to evade the fore checker by looking back at him to protect the puck. Big mistake. I looked up and all I saw was a stick coming straight for my head. The player cross checked me in the throat and I went down hard. I suffered a severe concussion with hemorrhage and I was cut on my neck. While this may have been an illegality in the world of hockey, things like this happen. Sure it will be called, but the damage had already been done.

Had there been a chip in the wooden stick used by the player who hit me, the cut could have been much worse. My injury was like Zednik's because I suffered a cut on my neck. If it had been a skate I could be dead right now. In the NHL, multiple doctors and ambulances are standing by at the rink. At a youth or high school hockey game, it can take an ambulance over 45 minutes to arrive. I saw a friend get his upper lip split open by own facemask. He would later receive 70 stitches, but he bled all over the ice for 40 minutes until the ambulance finally came. The hospital is only 15 minutes from the rink.

Despite all the equipment worn by hockey players, there is one thing that is 'optional'; neck guards. Neck guards are thin pieces of fabric that are wrapped loosely around the neck to protect from injuries similar to Zednik's. While a neck guard won't protect from a puck to the throat, it can prevent major cuts from sticks and skates. After my injury, I wore a neck guard every game I played for the rest of my career. They are quite uncomfortable and annoying, but after a few weeks with one, it feels normal. USA Hockey encourages the wearing of neck guards but does not require it. If I can tell the future generations of hockey one thing, it would be to always wear a neck guard. Certain leagues and rinks have taken steps in the right direction. The local high school league necessitates the use of this vital safety tool. I would not be surprised if USA Hockey changed the policy of 'optional use of neck guards' to 'mandatory use of neck guards'. Anyone playing hockey should wear a neck guard at all times to prevent horrible injuries like this.