The Ottawa Senators dropped a 5-2 decision at the hands of the Boston Bruins tonight, but the bigger story to come from the game was an early injury to forward Scott Sabourin. Sabourin, 27, made his National Hockey League debut with the Senators earlier this year, and has been a feel-good story since arriving in camp.
The accident - and I stress that word - occurred early in the game when Sabourin and Boston’s David Backes collided:
Here’s the collision between Scott Sabourin and David Backes.Sabourin out cold. Backes extremely emotional afterwards. pic.twitter.com/ob7ZdijnEa
— Matt Castle (@Matt_Castle22) November 2, 2019
Scott Sabourin gives a thumbs up as he stretchered off the ice in Boston pic.twitter.com/iIqbsR65qw
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) November 2, 2019
While a concrete update on Sabourin’s condition won’t be provided until tomorrow, the team did share tonight that he was conscious and speaking following the game. He will be kept in hospital overnight.
The hockey game that followed the collision is one that will probably be forgotten as a mid-season, meaningless game, but what won’t be forgotten was the emotional response of both the Senators and Bruins. Both teams handled the situation as well as anyone could have possibly expected, with grace and class. Everyone said the right things post-game. The game doesn’t matter; Sabourin’s health does.
Now, there’s always at least one person who handles a situation like this in the wrong way. Leave that role to Don Cherry:
After Scott Sabourin of @Senators drops unconscious after hitting David Backes of @NHLBruins and it takes 10 minutes to be stretchered off, this would be Don Cherry of @hockeynight and on @NHLNetwork laughing when @RonMacLeanHTH says he’s moving all his extremities #JustRetire pic.twitter.com/DEGkfzZOcb
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) November 3, 2019
Other than Don, I think everyone understood the gravity of the situation. This is about the long-term health of a relatively young man. We’re all thinking about Scott and hoping for the best.
As always, thanks for reading.