worst hockey injury?

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In 1970, my college team was playing a scrimmage against a Laconia New Hampshire semi pro team. In that era, we rarely used helmets and no one ever used mouth guards. A forward on my team was checked into the boards and his mouth hit the edge and every one of his front teeth top and bottom were broken off. He was a bloody mess and his mouth looked horrific. He ended up needing caps on all of his front teeth.

In a 1969 game played against against the Berlin Maroons minor league team I slid into the boards with a Maroons player coming in on top of me. His skate blade managed to hit my thigh between the bottom of my thigh guard and the top of my knee pad. The blade cut a 27 inch slice in my thigh that required several hundred stitches to close. I lost so much blood that the ice where I fell was red with the blood.

Minor league hockey in the late late 1960s and the 1970s was brutal. Referee was extremely liberal and a player could get a way with a lot since there was always just one referee. Fights were the norm and games were filled with penalties. To be honest, fans didn't come to the games to see us play like the Montreal Canadians; they came to watch the intimidation. The team that was the best at intimidation often one. My roll on the my team was enforcer. That's what I was called. Any opposing player hit one of my players I'd bid my time, set the guy up, and then lay him out on the ice always when the referee wasn't looking. And when I couldn't get in a clean hit, my job was to enforce so I'd goad the player into a fight. I didn't lose many fights. I came out of 5 years of play lucky. A broken nose, a few broken ribs and fingers, lots of stitches, a concussion or two, and many black eyes. It's been 40 years and I have to admit I miss every moment of it and I would love to play again. Hockey is a tough sport much like lacrosse and field hockey. Either you enjoy the hits and the fights or you didn't get to play much. Not everyone skates and controlled the puck like Wayne Gretzky so the rest of us played the game like Eddie Shore, Reg Flemming, Johnny Bucyk, and Gordie Howe. You played it tough and hard.

How about Ted Green getting hit in the head by Wayne Maki. Or, for a pure accidental injury, Jacque Plante getting knocked out cold by a slap shot (forget by whom). That was the first hockey game I ever saw (on TV). Somehow I ended up being a goalie anyway.

Gee, I guess Bill Masterton of the Minnesota North Stars dying after hitting his head on the ice during a game in 1968 just doesn't cut it with this group.

What's wrong, not gruesome enough for you?

I remember the Clint Malarchuk injury. Richard Zednik of the Florida Panthers had a similar injury about a week ago and spent time in a Buffalo hospital. I also recall an injury to Rick MacLeish of he Flyers when I was living in Philadelphia where he got his neck cut by a skate blade but it wasn't quite as bad as the other two.

i wasn't at the game but my dad's good friend had season tickets and i remember him describing the incident with MARK HOWE -- they changed the nets because of that.

about 10 years ago ADAM FOOTE for the avalanche got his face thrust into the top edge of the boards and sliced his head open. blood was pooring in a stream from his head to the ice. that was nasty.

Anyone remember when Kevin Stevens got hurt in game 7 against the Islanders in the 1993 conference semis? He collided hard with another player and they bumped heads, and Stevens was knocked out cold in mid-air. He landed on his face and he couldn't protect himself at all. It was messed up.

One was Stan Makita getting his ear ripped off. And Bobby Hull on a break away when the defenseman wheel around and high sticked (accidental) Hull in the face. Broken nose and jaw. Ice was a real mess.