Hockey is full of injuries, big and small. That’s what happens when the game is physical and fast-paced.
Through the mysterious “upper-body” and “lower-body” injuries, there are a few that stand out. Usually, they’re the gruesome kinds. The kinds that leave an indelible mark in the psyche, that remind us that this is a dangerous game with sharp skates and surfaces that don’t give when a speeding object hits them at full force.
Roman Polak’s injury on the opening night of the Dallas Stars season this year was one of those kinds. The American Airlines Center was eerily quiet with 18,000-plus people in one place holding their breaths as Polak laid on the ice, motionless, after going into the boards awkwardly.