Worst Injury In Hockey History?

[ES]

Jaroslav Otevrel (16 NHL games in Sharks between 1992 and 1994) was paralysed while playing in Finland.

 

[ES]

Jaroslav Otevrel (16 NHL games in Sharks 1992-94) was paralysed while playing in Finland.

 

[Big Phil]

Jaroslav Otevrel (16 NHL games in Sharks between 1992 and 1994) was paralysed while playing in Finland.

Wow, that does even look that bad. I mean it does, but since we don't have a good view of it, to me it seems like he just collided with the other guy

 

[MXD]

Amongst the non-paralysis/death injuries, I gotta go with Trent McCleary.

 

[seventieslord]

Patrick Thoresen deserves a mention, too.

 

[Bronto]

http://www.tv2.no/play/sport/ishockey/fikk-skoeyte-over-haandleddet-553783.html

I dont know if the video works for people outside Norway. But this guy slices his wrist and cuts his nervs.... Possible career ending...

 

[Poignant Discussion*]

Malarchuk for Gory
Masterson for Result
Pronger for scary (pucks hits him in chest and his heart stops)

 

[Pear Juice]

Howie Morenz got his leg completely shattered and could never have run or skated again

Yeah, they inserted a steel spike, fixating his leg in upright position. Not only did he not run or skate after the injury, his death came as a direct consequence of the complications from his leg injury.

 

[tarheelhockey]

The description Bryan Berard gave of his eye injury was pretty gruesome. I assume anyone who's reading this thread isn't planning to eat any time soon...

In short, Berard's eye was struck by the tip of Marian Hossa's stick blade when Hossa followed through on a shot. The slicing motion of the blade opened a gash in the surface of Berard's eyeball, detaching both the lens and the retina. The innards of the eyeball, as well as a copious amount of blood, ended up on the ice.

 

[Drake1588]

Well, the worst on-ice injuries have led to death. It's a tie, sadly, between many individuals.

Per this source, these players died from on-ice injuries (sometimes lasting a few days or weeks before succumbing to their injuries): Owen McCourt, Edgar Dey, Howie Morenz, Bill Masterton, Paul Fendley, Ludek Cajka, Miran Schrott, Bengt Ã…kerblom, Graham Christie, Jaxon Logan, Don Sanderson

 

[seventieslord]

Wow, how did it take so long for us to mention Berard?

 

[ES]

Wow, that does even look that bad. I mean it does, but since we don't have a good view of it, to me it seems like he just collided with the other guy

Vitaly Karamnov (also former NHLer, 92 games in Blues) hit his head with the knee/thigh area and Otevrel's head snapped backwards as a result.

 

[Brooklanders*]

Travis Roy, or anybody that's been paralyzed

Yeah but Clint malarchuk almost died

 

[Canadiens1958]

Lou Fontinato Injury

Career ending broken neck:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qczNJVH1UDA

 

[snoris]

Ed Kea was playing for the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the old Central Hockey League back in 1983. He was about to be recalled by the Blues and was playing in his last minor league game before going back up to St. Louis.

Kea ended up in a collision against the boards behind one of the goals and suffered a serious head injury, partially because he wasn't wearing a helmet (he came under the grandfathered helmet exemption from 1979). He eventually awoke from a coma, but was unable to process most mental tasks beyond daily hygiene and simple life at home. He was unable to hold a job and made only moderate progress over the years.

His situation was all the more tragic because there was almost no insurance coverage for his monumental medical bills. Players were on either "one-way" or "two-way" contracts. Those on "one-way" contracts were NHL regulars who might go down to the minors for a few games to rehab an injury, but they'd get their full NHL pay and insurance. Players who often split their time between their NHL team and minor league affiliate were usually on "two-way" contracts; they got paid one salary while they were in the NHL, but significantly lower pay and insurance benefits while they were in the minors.

Kea was on a two-way contract. Even though he was about to be recalled to St. Louis, he and his family missed out on the full insurance benefits he would have received from an injury during an NHL game. The family suffered huge financial hardships due to medical and rehab bills. Unable to support his wife and four children, his wife had to go to work.

Kea died in 1999 after accidentally falling into a lake on the family property in Canada.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Although all these death and blood and paralysis posts obviously trump mine. Outside of Malarchuk, this is the only one that makes me physically ill...

Rich Parent suffered a ruptured testicle from getting hit by an Al MacInnis slapshot.

 

[kdb209]

Rich Parent suffered a ruptured testicle from getting hit by an Al MacInnis slapshot.

Which reminds me of a Steve Shields quote - upon arriving in San Jose after backing up the Dominator in Buffalo - paraphrasing:

Drew: You must have learned a lot playing behind Hasek.
Shields: Yeah.
Drew: Did he learn anything from you?
Shields: Yeah. Wear two cups.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Dale Rolfe went feet first into the boards at MSG in 1975 and suffered a broken ankle that ended his career. Apparently the bone went through his skate boot.

 

[Nicko999]

In the last few years, it has to be Trent McCleary.

Saskatchewan's Trent McCleary saw his career with the Montreal Canadiens come to a sudden end after he fractured his larynx and suffered a collapsed lung in a January, 2000 game against Philadelphia. McCleary went down to block a slapshot from Flyers defenseman Chris Therien but the speeding puck hit McCleary's throat, leaving him unable to breathe. Doctors didn't even have time to remove McCleary's skates before rushing him into surgery for an emergency tracheotomy. The injury narrowed McCleary's air passage by about 15 percent, meaning he had trouble breathing when he tried an NHL comeback the following season, forcing him to hang up his skates..

Here is the article about the whole thing
http://puckthathurts.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/is-it-october-yet-part-2-trent-mccleary/

A few more seconds and he would have died...

He struggled on the ice for a few moments, then his instincts drove him to skate to the bench, where he tried to tell the trainer he couldn’t breathe before collapsing.

When the doctor could not get a breathing tube down McCleary’s throat, he was then rushed to the hospital and directly to an operating table. McCleary had a collapsed right lung and a complex fracture of the larynx, two life-threatening injuries that required an emergency tracheotomy and putting him on a respirator.

Events happened so quickly that of none of McCleary’s equipment had been removed before emergency surgery. It was the first time the doctors had ever operated on someone still in skates. Had events not moved as quickly as they did, according to the surgeons, McCleary would have died. “It was a matter of seconds,” said Dr. Mulder.

 

[Cacciaguida]

This probably is nothing compared to the rest of the topic.

But Sami Salo was thought to have ruptured his testicle (it was only swollen), but that is bad in it's own right. Taking NHL slap shot to the testicles would be brutally painful. I doubt would be able to walk afterwards.

 

[whatname]

Ed Kea was playing for the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the old Central Hockey League back in 1983. He was about to be recalled by the Blues and was playing in his last minor league game before going back up to St. Louis.

Kea ended up in a collision against the boards behind one of the goals and suffered a serious head injury, partially because he wasn't wearing a helmet (he came under the grandfathered helmet exemption from 1979). He eventually awoke from a coma, but was unable to process most mental tasks beyond daily hygiene and simple life at home. He was unable to hold a job and made only moderate progress over the years.

His situation was all the more tragic because there was almost no insurance coverage for his monumental medical bills. Players were on either "one-way" or "two-way" contracts. Those on "one-way" contracts were NHL regulars who might go down to the minors for a few games to rehab an injury, but they'd get their full NHL pay and insurance. Players who often split their time between their NHL team and minor league affiliate were usually on "two-way" contracts; they got paid one salary while they were in the NHL, but significantly lower pay and insurance benefits while they were in the minors.

Kea was on a two-way contract. Even though he was about to be recalled to St. Louis, he and his family missed out on the full insurance benefits he would have received from an injury during an NHL game. The family suffered huge financial hardships due to medical and rehab bills. Unable to support his wife and four children, his wife had to go to work.

Kea died in 1999 after accidentally falling into a lake on the family property in Canada.

Damn, very sad story. Just the part where a player is about to get called up but suffers a career-ending injury in his last minor league game is bad enough...

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

Pronger for scary (pucks hits him in chest and his heart stops)

Happened to a kid who went to my high school (Before me.) Only it didn't start back up.

 

[Dondini]

its easily the slash on kovalev's hand. Worst part is no penalty and they scored. Savage savage bruins. That organization should be abolished for that. Ugly incident.

 

[tony d]

The Malarchuk injury, just a gruesome play/

 

[justsomeguy]

Ed Kea was playing for the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the old Central Hockey League back in 1983. He was about to be recalled by the Blues and was playing in his last minor league game before going back up to St. Louis.

Kea ended up in a collision against the boards behind one of the goals and suffered a serious head injury, partially because he wasn't wearing a helmet (he came under the grandfathered helmet exemption from 1979). He eventually awoke from a coma, but was unable to process most mental tasks beyond daily hygiene and simple life at home. He was unable to hold a job and made only moderate progress over the years.

His situation was all the more tragic because there was almost no insurance coverage for his monumental medical bills. Players were on either "one-way" or "two-way" contracts. Those on "one-way" contracts were NHL regulars who might go down to the minors for a few games to rehab an injury, but they'd get their full NHL pay and insurance. Players who often split their time between their NHL team and minor league affiliate were usually on "two-way" contracts; they got paid one salary while they were in the NHL, but significantly lower pay and insurance benefits while they were in the minors.

Kea was on a two-way contract. Even though he was about to be recalled to St. Louis, he and his family missed out on the full insurance benefits he would have received from an injury during an NHL game. The family suffered huge financial hardships due to medical and rehab bills. Unable to support his wife and four children, his wife had to go to work.

Kea died in 1999 after accidentally falling into a lake on the family property in Canada.

There have been claims recently from musico-journo Dave Bidini that Ed Kea's drowning was suicide, not an accident. Asked him where he got this info and he replied that it came from Kea family member(s)