Maple Leafs rookie Kris Newbury was taken off the ice on a stretcher late in the third period after a fight with Pittsburgh's Ronald Petrovicky on Saturday night.
The Toronto forward took several punches to the head before falling to the ice. He stayed motionless for several minutes before taken being off.
Newbury was examined at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto after the Maple Leafs' 6-5 overtime loss to Pittsburgh and tests showed he didn't sustain any fractures to his skull or neck.
The center, who will turn 25 later this month, was conscious and alert as he was transported from the ice to the dressing room.
``A scary moment,'' Maple Leafs forward Boyd Devereaux said.
Four seconds after Pittsburgh's Maxim Talbot scored to make it 5-5, Newbury and Petrovicky squared off at center ice. Petrovicky caught Newbury with a hard punch, and Newbury's helmet came off. When he fell back, he struck his head on the ice and was knocked out.
``We started fighting and he fell on his head pretty bad so, you know, sorry, but that's part of the game,'' Petrovicky said. ``Hopefully he'll be OK.
Newbury lay motionless for 30 seconds before awakening just as Toronto's training staff began treating him. A large pool of blood collected under his head and he was strapped to a board and taken off the ice.
``You don't want to see that, a lot of blood on the ice,'' said Petrovicky, who was sitting in the penalty box when the stretcher was brought out.
Newbury's teammates were visibly worried during the game, but seemed somewhat relieved once it was over.
``When someone is down like that and you see there's almost blood coming out of his ear, it's always dangerous,'' captain Mats Sundin said. ``But I heard he was moving around ... and he was conscious on the stretcher and could talk, so hopefully he'll be fine.''
If this isn't a sign that the NHL should change their fight policy I don't know what is! Could you imagine what would happen if this same thing happened in a different sport and they were black players involved? This sort of thing exposes the prejudices that still exist in America.
If this isn't a sign that the NHL should change their fight policy I don't know what is!
I agree 100%