If there is one thing you hear over and over again in hockey, it has to be that the players are as tough as nails. That is all well and good but you get to a point where you are tired of hearing about it. You feel like you have seen everything the sport has to offer and you don’t think they can show you how much tougher they can be.
Jacob Markstrom decided recently that he had something to show hockey fans. A save with his bare hand.
This is dangerous for multiple reasons and the puck could have done some real damage to his hand. A player could have skated over his hand and it would have been the last we heard of Markstrom. He also could have gotten his hand whacked by a stick and that could have been the end of his season.
Maybe this is a desperate cry for help and he just wants to get the heck out of Vancouver. Can’t rule that option out. Either way, the Swedish goaltender showed some gall doing that, a sacrifice not many others would make.