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Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Ear protection in focus as an errant shot fells Wild’s Nico Sturm
- Story byPioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
- Ear protection in focus as an errant shot fells Wild’s Nico Sturm
What Wild coach John Hynes noticed more than anything was the silence.
A net-bound shot by Minnesota captain Jared Spurgeon hit a crowd in front of the Vegas net on Monday night. In that crowd was teammate Nico Sturm, and the puck struck the Wild winger in the head, dropping him to the ice.
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The normally notable crowd noise inside Grand Casino Arena stopped abruptly, like someone had hit a mute button somewhere. Sturm lay motionless on the ice near the Golden Knights' goal crease.
"Actually the rink was like dead silent when that went on," Hynes said after the game in which Sturm left and was taken to a nearby hospital with what was officially termed an upper-body injury.
Sturm did not travel to Winnipeg for the Wild's Tuesday night clash with the Jets, and earlier in the day, Minnesota called up Winnipeg native Justin Kirkland to have on hand if needed.
For the Wild players — even those used to the danger that comes from going to the front of the net — the injury was all too familiar, coming less than a month after a similar deflected shot struck defenseman Brock Faber in the ear hole of his helmet. That incident caused a skull fracture, and Faber's return is still not time-definite.
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"I felt horrible. Us as a fourth line we like to get to the net, and pucks are flying by us all the time. It's kind of a dangerous area to go," said Michael McCarron, who helped Sturm off the ice. "That's why not a lot of people love to go to the net. It's scary around there, and I'm just praying for the best for him. He seemed to be OK when I saw him after the first. But, yeah, it's scary. It's your teammate. You love him, and hopefully he's OK."
After the injury to Faber, Spurgeon became one of the first Wild players to have ear guards installed in his helmet. They are simple pieces of plastic that leave an opening for sound to get in, but cover more of a player's ear from the potential for getting hit by a stick or a puck. Hockey retailers sell them for between $10 and $18, depending on the brand of helmet.
But when asked if more Wild players should and will start wearing them, at least one skater was non-committal.
"I don't know. I actually haven't thought about it, to be honest with you," McCarron said. "I cut my ear a long time ago, and I had to wear an ear guard for quite a while, and I hated it. That's going back 10 years maybe. But I don't know. Maybe another rule's going to come to play here in the NHL. But, yeah, it's scary."
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Wild veteran defenseman Zach Bogosian does not wear ear protection and is one of only three remaining players who skates without a visor on his helmet. The eye protection is NHL-mandated now, but Bogosian entered the league before the requirement and is grandfathered in. Similarly, nearly 30 years ago, Craig MacTavish became the last NHLer to play without a helmet, which became league-mandated in 1979, but was still optional for players who had debuted in the league before then.
In the early days of hockey, no players — not even the goalies — wore helmets, and injuries were much more prevalent than today.
Bogosian said he had no comment when a reporter tried to ask about his lack of a visor following the game on Monday.
As a coach but also the father of sports-playing kids, Hynes has a different perspective on protective gear.
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"I think, anything as a parent or a coach or someone where you're overseeing people and things like that, you want to try to make sure that they make the right decisions to try to give themselves every opportunity to make sure that they don't get hurt," he said. "But ultimately it comes down to the players' decision."
And while they wait for news on Sturm's injury and his potential return to the lineup, the coach did offer some potential good news. Hynes noted that Faber has been seen around the rink more lately, and his road to recovery included an appearance at the game on Monday.
"He's doing great. He was at the rink today. Yep, so he's doing really good," Hynes said on Monday. "He's got another appointment coming up shortly, but he's in good spirits. He was at the game tonight, in the locker room, after he was at the rink today, so lots of good progress for him."
