It’s been 11 years since former New York Rangers center Derek Stepan had his jaw broken in the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens. If you think Stepan receives sympathy these days from certain former teammates about how the injury occurred, well, think again.
Of course, you must understand the circumstances of what happened that night of May 22, 2014, at Madison Square Garden. Stepan not only was leveled by a late, open-ice hit in the first period, one that resulted in a broken jaw. But the hit was delivered by Canadiens forward Brandon Prust, Stepan’s good friend and former Rangers teammate.