Midway through the second period of Friday night's game between the Anaheim Ducks and the San Jose Sharks, Ducks' winger Jason Blake got tangled up with Sharks' defenseman Brent Burns while trying to win a loose puck on a faceoff.
Blake fell in front of Burns, and, as Burns stepped towards the puck, he accidentally brought his skate down on Blake's forearm, slicing it open. The cut was "severe", according to Ducks' coach Randy Carlyle. Take a look for yourself:
See below for a scary photo of the incident as well. Blake was taken to hospital for emergency surgery immediately, according to Helene Elliott:
[...] Blake was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange and was scheduled to undergo surgery Friday night after suffering what was described as a severe cut on his left forearm late in the team's 1-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks at Honda Center.
Blake, 38, was injured almost midway through the final period of the Ducks' home opener. He was taken out of the arena on a special stretcher that allowed him to keep his arm upright and he was sitting, not lying on his back, a team spokesman said.
The cut comes only five days after Michael Cammalleri suffered a nasty cut to his leg in last Sunday's game versus the Winnipeg Jets. He admitted afterward that the cut was downright scary. "Our skates are pretty sharp," he said then. "When you think about it, it's like a bunch of knives flying around the ice."
It's true, and it's always a wonder that this sort of thing doesn't happen more often.
In Cammalleri's instance, he escaped any serious damage, only requiring stitches and being pronounced out of the lineup for under a month. He was lucky. Here's hoping Jason Blake is as well.