I'm a little shook up

[KBO25 0]

OK call me a wimp or wuss or whatever, but I'm a little gun shy.

Over the weekend, in my beer league game, I was chipping the puck out, and I nailed an opponant in the face with my clearing attempt.

He wasn't wearing any kind of face sheild or cage. I think I broke his nose, and he will most definately need stitches.

Now, I've been playing for years, I've seen guys hit with sticks, hit with pucks and hurt by checks. I've seen a few guys break their legs.

But, somehow, I've never personally hurt anyone on the ice.

For some reason I was shaken up and couldn't really focus the rest of the game. I was having second thoughts every time I went to take a slapshot.

I know that everyone is responsible for themselves when it comes to wearing a cage or sheild, but still, I'm a little shaken by this.

I tried to check on the guy after the game, but none of his teammates knew his status.

[chippa13 1844]

Accidents happen.

[hockeyplaya97 0]

Yeah, I broke a kid's nose at school today because of an accident. I was tryin to talk to the kid so I just kind of shoulder checked him to get him to pay attention, but somehow his nose ended up jamming into my head and it was obviously broken. It bothers me even more because he was my friend. I hope he doesn't throw a desk at me when he gets back...

[LkptTiger 1]

Would you blame yourself if you were him? No, you wouldn't - it's part of the game, and it's a risk assumed by guys who go out there wearing only a visor or nothing at all over their faces. Don't be so hard on yourself.

[Doctor Hook 0]

No one is entitled to feel safe playing hockey. It's the price we pay.

[Fletch 219]

Don't feel so bad....it was unintentional. And he probably should have been wearing a cage (IMO all beer league players should wear some type of facial protection).

[opus22 0]

ive been on both sides of it, just showing you care is enough. some people dont give a crap - that can get really upsetting when your laying on the ice in the fetal position or bleeding all over yourself. just being a human about it makes the other guy know you would never have done it on purpose and you feel bad about it. its a tough game sometimes, even in screw around rec leagues.

[BK 0]

Honestly, it sounds mean but its the price you pay for not wearing ANY facial protection. Its a common thing to break teeth, your nose, cheekbones, lose eyes etc when you don't wear the correct protection.

Now don't get me wrong, its the player's preference as to how much protection he wears, but on the other hand its the player's preference as to how much damage it causes when things like this happen.

[warrior37 0]

KBO25, did you shoot the puck pretty high or did the guy kind of fall into it? was it a pretty hard shot?

[nni 0]

accidents happen, but it is ok that you feel bad. hopefully the guy is ok. i got slashed in the face, and the guy just said ' you should've had a face mask' trying to be tough and skated away while i collected my teeth. concern makes it slightly better.

[dix0r 0]

accidents happen, but it is ok that you feel bad. hopefully the guy is ok. i got slashed in the face, and the guy just said ' you should've had a face mask' trying to be tough and skated away while i collected my teeth. concern makes it slightly better.

wow, hope your teammates wrecked that guy

[Wayne 0]

No one is entitled to feel safe playing hockey. It's the price we pay.

I disagree. It's a game, not life. Why should anyone not feel safe doing something they love?

[Monty22 833]

He made a choice to forgo facial protection in favor of increased visibility. He has also paid the price for doing so. It was an accident. Things things happen, and it sounds like he's going to live. It's not like you shot the puck into his face on purpose. Forget about it.

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

It's these things that suddenly change their whole view of the sport (no idea how to word it good). I remember when I read Martin Brodeur's biography, his brother was a great BMX biker until he fell and wouldn've died if it weren't for his helmet. Now, he just can't BMX again.

[Doctor Hook 0]

No one is entitled to feel safe playing hockey. It's the price we pay.

I disagree. It's a game, not life. Why should anyone not feel safe doing something they love?

One has to realize that eventhough they lace 'em up weekly and go out and play and come home later and everything is fine, that there could be a time where an accident like a puck or stick to the face could occur.

Or in other cases, we could hack the wrong guy, some guy who may have just gotten laid off or maybe his wife left him, and we may get a punch to the face.

To just assume we'll be A-ok because nothing serious hasn't happened to us in 20+ years of playing would be pretty foolish.

[TBLfan 25]

I took a puck off the forehead in a little rocker pickup game, lost about a half pink of blood and have a nice little scar. It was one of those 4 people go out and have some fun, no shin pads no helmet... I didn't have any hard feelings, after it stopped bleeding I went back and started playing again until it opened again. We called it quits and the guy that hit it felt really bad and kept appologizing but honestly it's just part of the game, it happens. Don't worry about it.

And the only time you should really worry about a slap shot is if either a guy dives face first in front of it or you're one of those guys that often sends it about face high. In a mens league it's not really worth the risk of taking a high slap shot like that after all even with a cage or visor that can cause some damage and we all have to go to work in the morning.

Don't worry about it man, next time you seem him ask him how's he's doing and let him know you're sorry. Not much more he can ask for and I'm sure you'll feel better when you know that he doesn't have any hard feelings towards you.

[TheSnake22 0]

one of my best buds knocked 3 teeth clean out with a puck in practice while we were messing around... 2 days before christmas no less. had them wired back in that night plus some stitches... no hard feelings though, accidents happen. if it doesn't kill you, it only makes you stronger... 5 years of dental bills though, now thats another story lol...

[BK 0]

Hockey is one of the few sports where you CHOOSE your level of protection.

Even in a non-contact league. Hockey is STILL a contact sport. Even playing around on the ice in no gear, you still run the chance of getting injured. I have "absorbed" a few stray pucks playing around with friends and believe it or not, more than one of the scars I have from playing have been from when NO contact happened (me falling on the ice etc).

Long story short is that shit WILL happen. The key factor is how big the shit pile will be when it happens.

[kobcc 0]

It happened to me, I was going in and the puck carrier tried to flip it over me instead of banking it. The puck hit my upper lip and went right through. 10 stitches on the outside and 5 on the inside, I was lucky to keep all of my teeth although a couple little chips. I wore a visor then, now I wear a full shield. It wasn't the first time something like this has happened, however I learned my lesson and it will be the last time it happens to me.

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

Shit happens in hockey. I had a two handed stick across my face once by a friend, bruised up my face pretty good, it was all in the heat of the moment. We shook hands after that and had a beer. Everyone understands the risks of the game and can't really blame anyone.

[Doctor Hook 0]

Long story short is that shit WILL happen. The key factor is how big the shit pile will be when it happens.

Precisely. And here's hoping the hockey gods didn't have Indian buffet when my time comes.

[Patrick67 1]

It's his own fault he didn't wear some facial protection.

But still I would have to see the shot that hit him before putting the blame on the victim or the shooter.

One of my teammates shot another teammate down with a very high wristshot, ended up breaking his nose and required serious surgery. Blood was spilling like in a tarantino movie, a large patch of the rink surface + the guy's stick were completely red.

The guy who made the shot came around our own goal completely unpressuared and hit his teammate who was standing 10ft away. Nobody blamed the guy who got hit even though he wasn't wearing a cage or shield.

The perputractor said he attemted a long saucer pass to an open teammate, It was unintenionally so nobody was mad at anybody. But don't say it was the victims own fault...

[KBO25 0]

KBO25, did you shoot the puck pretty high or did the guy kind of fall into it? was it a pretty hard shot?

Well, I was on defense and I was clearing it out. I didn't go off the boards because 2 seconds earlier I fired one off th boards on a PK and one of their guys snagged it before it cleared.

It was after the penalty was over, I was trying to dump it and get off the ice. I fired it high and hard, I don't think he was even looking, and it caught him flush in the nose.

I agree that if it had happened to me, I wouldn't be blaming anyone.

I also feel better since I found out he didn't break his nose, just some stitches. He won't even miss a game.

I guess at the time it just looked worse than it was. Blood everywhere. For the rest of the game, we skated on red snow.

I felt like I should've been more careful, knowing some guys were playing without cages or visors. And I was hesitant about taking slapshots from the point.

I'm pretty sure I won't be thinking about it the next time I play.

[indaslot 0]

Not wearing facial protection is asking for trouble.It could have been his eye.Feeling upset shows that you are a human being with feelings, but really,its a no brainer when deciding to wear facial protection.

[DMBeer41 0]

We had the same thing happen in our beer league game this past weekend. Other team had taken a penalty, so one of their guys goes off the ice and takes his helmet off to cool down a little I guess. They win the faceoff, and 4 seconds into our powerplay their guy rifles a wrist shot to clear the zone. Sails clear into their bench, past 4 guys with helmets on, and cracks the guy right in the bridge of the nose. It was pretty scary, but the guy was smart and ripped his stuff off to use it for pressure to stop the bleeding. EMT's, firemen, everyone was there. Kid skated off the ice (with a little help). I felt bad for the guy, and for the guy who shot it.