The win was secondary in the Chicago Blackhawks locker room on Saturday after defenseman Connor Murphy was stretchered off the ice.
The scene is bloodcurdling: in the first period, Murphy collapsed on the ice in a worrying position, without moving, after a check from Parker Kelly of the Ottawa Senators. The latter received a minor penalty and a game misconduct.
The game was interrupted for more than seven minutes while the medical staff worked to gently move Murphy. And even if the latter gave a thumbs up when he was evacuated, his captain Jonathan Toews had a hard time getting back to the game.
“It’s hard to regroup and worry about the game when your thoughts are with your teammate, when you really don’t know if he’s doing well,” he admitted, according to comments reported by the daily. Chicago Tribune. Obviously it looked pretty serious when he was put on the stretcher, so we’re really glad he’s okay.”
heart and soul
Indeed, Murphy never needed to be transported to a hospital afterwards. He remained at the arena under the supervision of Blackhawks staff and will accompany his teammates on the return trip to Chicago, head coach Derek King confirmed.
The organization will certainly urge caution in his case, as he has already gone through concussion protocol this season in early December.
If he has to miss any games, it will be a big loss for the Illinois squad’s defensive squad, as Murphy leads the National Hockey League (NHL) with 150 blocked shots.
“It’s really hard to see a teammate go down, especially a guy like Murphy,” said Caleb Jones. He’s kinda heart and soul [de notre équipe].»
Use your head
If thoughts were on Murphy rather than Kelly’s gesture after the Hawks’ 6-3 win, Toews didn’t hesitate to use this footage to remind everyone on the tour that toughness, although important, should be used with common sense.
“I cannot comment on the blow in itself, he began by saying. I think any time someone gets on the ice like that, the blame definitely goes to the guy who threw the player on the boards.”
“I think we’re at the point in the league where there’s that level of respect and the understanding that you don’t want to be in that situation. You want to play physically, you want to hit hard, but if there’s a potential for something like this to happen, you have to be smarter about it.”