VIDEO: Mark Scheifele narrowly avoids frightening injury
We've seen some close calls lately.
HockeyFeed
The sports community was thrown into mourning following the untimely passing of former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Adam Johnson in late October. His tragic death occurred following a devastating incident on the ice during a game in the Elite Ice Hockey League in which he sustained fatal injuries when accidentally struck by a falling opponent, causing severe damage to his neck that tragically proved too severe.
Since then, several players in the National Hockey League have opted to wear neck protection, while there have been plenty of people who feel that neck protection ought to be mandated in the same way that helmets and eventually visors were mandated for all players.
During last night's game at Chicago's United Center between the host Blackhawks and visiting Winnipeg Jets, phenom rookie forward Connor Bedard was upended and his skates flew up in the air, nearly connecting with the neck of Jets forward Mark Scheifele in what was a truly scary moment:
Thankfully, that this incident didn't end in tragedy.
Eventually, it was Bedard himself who would score the game-winning goal in overtime as part of Chicago's 2-1 triumph. But the scary incident cast a shadow over the game itself, considering how close Scheifele came to suffering a devastating and dangerous injury.
In the coming years, are we going to see more calls for mandatory neck protection for NHL players, especially if God forbid, we have another tragedy like what took place overseas in late October?
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