On Friday night against the Manchester Monarchs (the Los Angeles Kings' AHL affiliate), Coach Roy Sommer of the Worcester Sharks (San Jose Sharks affiliate) reminded us that the men wearing suits behind the bench stand there without the benefit of pads, helmets or visors. Which is to say, "vulnerable."
Sommer took a puck to the nose in the first period of the shootout win; dropping to the ground in pain, leaving for the trainer's room ... and then returning with Q-tips wedged in his beak. Watch:
From the Worcester Star Telegram:
Sommer walked right into a clearing shot, the puck having deflected off a stick near the Worcester bench. He went right down and went immediately to the trainer's room, where athletic trainer Matt White patched him up. Sommer returned to the bench with Q-tips sticking out of his nostrils, then had a piece of tape on his nose the rest of the night.
"Never saw it coming," he said. "Even if I had, I'm not sure I could've gotten out of the way, not with the cat-like reflexes I've got."
Sommer said it was not his worst-ever injury behind the bench. One time, he said, an opposing player tried to tomahawk one of his players and missed. "I got El-Kabonged," Sommer added.
And here we thought being "El-Kabonged" had to involve an acoustic guitar.
Anyhoo, Sommer certainly sent a message to his players about overcoming in-game injuries, even if his nose wasn't exactly in a Darryl Boyce state of disrepair (yuck). Hopefully they noticed as much as the girl-in-the-sweatshirt behind the glass did, a.k.a. the MVP of this video clip:
