Yzerman out indefinitely

[turboMiata]

This is bad news for Detriot. First Chelios, now Yzerman. Hope he recovers.


DETROIT (AP) - Detroit captain Steve Yzerman is out indefinitely after getting hit in the face with a puck during Detroit's 1-0 loss to Calgary on Saturday night.

Yzerman has a scratched cornea and broken left eye socket, the Red Wings said in a statement Sunday, adding that he will be unavailable to comment for a week.

He experienced blurred vision in his eye after he was hit with the puck, but that improved after 4{ hours of surgery.

Yzerman was hit midway through the second period of Game 5 and needed help getting off the ice.

The Red Wings fell behind 1-0 shortly after Yzerman was injured, and that was the only goal of the game. Calgary leads the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series 3-2 and can eliminate the top-seeded Red Wings at home on Monday.

The injury came after a shot by Red Wings defenseman Mathieu Schneider ricocheted off someone in front of the Calgary net and hit Yzerman squarely in the face as he stood to the left of the goal. The injury forced him out for the remainder of the game.

Yzerman, who doesn't wear a face shield, immediately dropped to the ice. He kicked his legs in pain as he was sprawled out.

After being down for a couple minutes, with the crowd watching in stunned silence, Yzerman was helped to the dressing room as a towel was held near his left eye. He didn't return to the game.

[Shaolin]

i don't play hockey competitively, but what's the deal with people not wearing visors?

[legereandrew4]

:bigpimp:

[Kobe]

"lose of vision" most of the players say...

[SI-vic]

its true though... it DOES make you lose some vision.
I hate playing with a cage/visor but I used one for my safety.... mine is old so i need a new one. all rusty and stuff.

anyways, if 2 of the top 3 goal scorers in the NHL wear a visor.... I'm sure other players will learn to adapt to it.
loss of vision of the puck is better than loss of vision for life

[Shaolin]

I just thought people would think twice after the whole deal with Berard. :dunno:

[TalonVelocity]

omg people saying it "affects their vision" is BS> Goalies have to see the puck WAY better than players do, and they wear full cages. They get by with it, why cant players?

[C4S]

But Goalies are diff with other player , right ? they have to face 30-40 shots a game, and players just shoot to the goalie !

Feel bad for Yzerman...:( Even it may be good news for the Flames, however, he is probaby one of the best NHL player nowaday .... ( and for the last 20 yr as well .. ) :(

[Weapon_R]

Although I feel bad for him, I can't help but grin because the guy has caused my blood pressure to rise astronomically whenever he touches the puck!

[three.eighteen.]

yeah....he's a great canadian player, but this IS good news for the flames

[A2VR6]

It's sad to see someone of his calibre go down. Even though it helps the flames, i dont like see someone drop out of a series that way. Especially if that was his last game ever (if he retires).

[Altezza]

Holy shit...I hope he recovers...I feel bad since he is only a handfull of games away from retirement and suffers a major eye injury.

Man, who is next to go down? Hull? They're dropping like flies.

[SI-vic]

This will most likely be Yzerman's last game.
Thats so sad to see..... Yzerman has always been a good guy and great for the sport.
good news is that he'll make a full recovery.

[ryder_23]

Originally posted by TalonVelocity
omg people saying it "affects their vision" is BS> Goalies have to see the puck WAY better than players do, and they wear full cages. They get by with it, why cant players?

The cages around goalies masks are actually quite easy to see out of...when i played lacrosse i had the same mask, like the osgood mask, you can call it, same cage used on all goalies except for the odd hasek style...anyways, i found it was really easy to see out of, with the two large eye cutouts, easier than with a regular cage, and no hassle of foggin up or gettin ice/water on it and makin it dirty. after 2 minutes of wearing it, its like nothin is on at all, and you can see threw like your wearing nothing.

Back on topic, its sad to see a Canadian player come to this, but like stated by people above, its an advantage, cause like weapon r says, i get nervous everytime he touches the puck...oh, and i wouldnt mind seeing hull go down :D along with 95% of the detroit lineup :thumbsup:

[method]

I said as soon as I saw it that he probably broke his orbit...

that sucks, yzerman is a good guy... he was busting his ass trying to make up for his team's slack playing, and what does he get? his face smoked with the puck.

with the amount of money in professional sports, I'm pretty damn sure they can develop some face protection that doesnt impair your vision... players are just trying to be tough.

on that same note, don cherry is a moron.

[ZMan2k2]

Yeah, Stevie going down was a rough loss for the team, not the way anyone wants to leave a game. I figured it was something really bad with him, cause he never drops like that unless it's really bad. Remember, this is a guy who played in the Olympics on a bad wheel, and played most of the regular season as well, and only after his team was eliminated in the playoffs, did he go for surgery. So for him to stay out, it's not good at all.

As for the visor thing, as a goalie myself, seeing out of the new style mask is no problem at all, but for regular players, a visor can hamper vision. With a goalie mask, there is no way to fog it up or get water on it to impair your vision. On a visor, you can fog it up while breathing or get water on it going into the boards or what have you, and your vision is gone until you get to the bench.

But the above statements are right, you would think that players would have learned from the Brian Berard incident.

[Gonthro]

Originally posted by Kobe
"lose of vision" most of the players say...

alsot of them also complain of loss of hearing.... which is understandable, thats why conrow wears that big chin guard, but no visor... and from when he had the visor on, to after he took it off, waslike night and day... when he had it on he lost the puck to many times, as soon as he took it off he was on that thing like a dirty shirt all the time.

[civicguy2002]

Great news for Calgary Fans, but a horrible thing to happen to such a great guy. Heres to a speedy recovery, he would be great to have on Team Canada at the world cup coming up.

[hjr]

it may actually be the end of stevie y's career. he still has a LOT of skill and is still playing well, but an injury like that can change your perspective...

[hustler]

feel so bad for yzerman and the redwings...but hopefully the flames can take advantage of the situation

he is expected to make a full recovery so thats good news

as for him retiring, he said he plans to play next year, I hope this injury doesnt stop him

[Khyron]

The arguement against the visor is also that it will make players be too bold in blocking pucks. Even with the current gear, players block pucks with their body - imagine how much more often they would do it if they all had to wear full goalie masks and didn't have to worry about getting hit in the face? Same thing with the sticks - no protection means players are more careful with their sticks than if they all had masks.

That all said, if the game changes because people wear more gear then I guess the game will adapt just like it did when goalies started wearing more.

Khyron