This May Be the Most Brutal Hockey Injury We’ve Seen Yet

See what happens when skate meets neck. 

The KHL, an international hockey league with teams in Europe and Asia, is second only to the NHL when it comes to putting the biscuit into the basket. But it’s first when it comes to terrifying injuries.

Our on-going coverage of cringe-worthy hockey horrors has included teeth ejection and ear mangling in North American hockey, but today the KHL brings us something much worse—a skate slashing a throat. The freak occurrence came early in the third period of Sunday’s game between Ugra and Slovan, and was caused by one player tripping over another’s stick. As Ladislav Nagy fell to the ice, his feet went airborne and a skate pierced the neck of forward Vitaly Sitnikov.

The potentially horrifying scene didn’t get as bad as it could have though thanks to prompt medical attention from team doctors. Sitnikov reportedly had his neck stitched up and is “fine.” He’s expected to return to the ice shortly, though he will take at least one game off to recover. Lucky for us, he won’t take any time off social media. On the same day of his injury, he was feeling well enough to post this:

https://twitter.com/NHLexpertpicks/status/671373581746614272