Hockey pucks moving at high velocities certainly can cause some injuries. The latest NHL case of that came with Winnipeg Jets’ center Vladimir Namestnikov, struck in the head by a slap shot during the fourth game of their Stanley Cup conference quarterfinal playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche Sunday. Here’s that video:
That’s definitely a scary moment. And it led to Namestnikov being transported to a local hospital in Denver:
After the game, which the Jets lost 5-1 to fall behind 3-1 in the series, Winnipeg head coach Rick Bowness confirmed that Namestnikov was taken to hospital. But he didn’t have a further update beyond that:
The 31-year-old Namestnikov was selected 27th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Through this regular season, he had 708 career regular-season games and 298 career points. Hopefully this won’t be a serious injury for him. But it was just one of several in this series:
Hopefully Namestnikov will be able to return for Game 5 of the series, in Winnipeg Tuesday.
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About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.