An incredibly scary moment happened during tonight’s Canucks-Devils matchup. Behind the Vancouver net, defenseman Philip Larsen was nailed with, what appears to be, a clean hit by Devils forward Taylor Hall.
The hit knocked Larsen unconscious. As he lay on the ice, the Devils and Canucks players started fighting atop his limp body and bumped into his head numerous times.
Goaltender Jakob Markstrom called for the medical staff for assistance. Larsen was then stretchered off the ice.
Hopefully, Larsen is OK. But, the way the play was handled brings up one of my biggest criticisms about hockey. After getting knocked out, instead of getting out of the way and letting the medical team assist Larsen, the Canucks and Devils skated near his body, hitting his head with sticks and skates. You can see some Canucks players try to pull Larsen away from the pile and avoid incidental contact. This macho, instant retribution attitude is part of the game, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of a player’s health. It’s very, very dangerous.
Making contact with Larsen could have made his injury worse. See: Andrei Nikolishin and Steve Moore. Helping out a teammate doesn’t always make things better.
Let’s hope Larsen is A-OK.
