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When his powerful slapshot thudded into the neck of Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Dan Girardi and Girardi slumped to the ice motionless, training and medical staff rushing to his aid, forward Martin Frk and the rest of the Detroit Red Wings were left feeling both terrified and helpless.
The same emotions overcame the Boston Bruins on the weekend when they could only watch with concern as Montreal Canadiens forward Phillip Danault was stretchered from the ice after being struck in the ear by the slapper of Bruins captain Zdeno Chara.
“That’s when every player is basically on the same team, when things like that happen,” Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “You don’t want that to happen to anyone.”
For Frk, there is a double-edged sword at work here. Certainly, he doesn’t want to injure anyone with his shot, but at the same time, his shot is his bread and butter, and he must utilize it if he wants to stay in the NHL.
“My shot gets me here where I am right now,” Frk said. “I will definitely not take anything off of it. I just want to do my job.”
Detroit coach Jeff Blashill knows the trauma that can infect a player’s psyche after they injure player with their shot. When he was coaching in the AHL with Grand Rapids, Blashill saw this impact Ryan Sproul after the defenseman struck teammate Mitch Callahan in the mouth with a point shot.
“Ryan hit Mitch in the face, and I thought it affected Ryan for a while,” Blashill recalled. “He stopped shooting the puck and unfortunately, there’s just inherent risk in being a professional hockey player. Just like a lot of other professions, there’s inherent risk and that’s one of them.
“Nobody wants to see anything like that happen. But he’s a big-time shooter, he’s got to be a shooter.”
Frk got in touch with Girardi via text and was able to confirm that Girardi will be OK, and that helped to relieve some of the stress he’s felt since the accident.
“It’s scary,” Frk said. “I don’t want to see that happen. I would rather hit him anywhere else but the neck.
“It’s really scary, but also that’s my job and I’m going to do it 100 percent. So I will just want to make sure I hit the net instead of guys standing in front of me.”
Injury Updates
The long-term projection on forwards Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm, who both missed Sunday’s 4-0 win at Chicago with lower-body injuries, is unknown. The short-term projection is more certain. Neither will play Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena against the Dallas Stars.
“I don’t have any further update,” Blashill told Detroitredwings.com. “They’re both waiting to get examined. They’ll both be out tomorrow. Is it longer than that? I don’t know that answer.”
Blashill also offered an update on center Luke Glendening, who has missed nine games with a hand injury.
“I wouldn’t expect him until after the (Jan. 26-29 NHL) All-Star break,” Blashill said. “I don’t know that he’ll be ready after the All-Star break, but he won’t be ready before the All-Star break.”
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