SCARY INCIDENT GIVES PLAYERS SOBERING PAUSE
Sabourin injury a reminder to everybody in hockey how dangerous the sport can be
It was hard to see, for sure, someone you care about being down like that — the blood and all that.
It was one of those nights where the final score just didn’t really matter.
Really, all that mattered was an update from the Ottawa Senators in the first intermission Saturday night that Sens winger Scott Sabourin was conscious and able to move his extremities before he was taken to a Boston hospital overnight for observation after being knocked out in a devastating head-to-head collision with Boston Bruins winger David Backes.
After the sad and scary incident, it felt like the rest of Ottawa’s 5-2 loss to the Bruins to start a three-game road trip was just a blur for the players and coaching staff on both teams because it’s difficult to forget the terrible scene on the ice before Sabourin gave the fans a thumbsup as he left the ice on stretcher.
Coach D.J. Smith noted after the game he couldn’t say much to the players because he was one himself and he knew what they’re going through. Not only are they thinking about Sabourin, they’re worried about his family, fiancé and friends who were watching in their homes — because everybody knows how tough it must have been for them.
It was tough to watch because it just happened so fast and the pictures of Backes in tears on the bench before leaving with an upper-body injury moments later told the story of the difficultly the players were feeling. Once Sabourin left the rink for the hospital, the Senators sent along word that he was conscious.
“I don’t think there is anything you can say,” Smith said after the game. “You just have to play the game and play it hard and hope for the best. They just wanted to know that he was moving and I think that made him feel better.”
There were 17,991 in the stands at the TD Garden, but as Sabourin lay motionless on the ice you could hear a pin drop. Both benches sat in stunned, worried silence as medical personnel rushed to his aid. At that point, people weren’t sure what happened until the replays showed the force of what took place between Sabourin and Backes.
At one point during the traumatic scene, Ottawa alternate captain Mark Borowiecki skated down the ice to where the Zamboni door opened to assist the medical staff bringing the stretcher out.
“I was scared,” Borowiecki said. “It was hard to see, for sure, someone you care about being down like that — the blood and all that.
“It was tough. A lot of us have been there, in situations like that where you’re maybe unconscious or whatever it may be, and it’s scary to see.
“We just wanted to make sure he got taken care of right away,” Borowiecki added.
“They did a great job and they seemed to take care of him very well. There’s definitely a big thank you to everyone who helped.”
And, everybody was thankful Sabourin, who made the team on a pro tryout in training camp, was responsive with the doctors before being taken to hospital. There was a collective sigh of relief when he posted an Instagram story from his bed Sunday morning indicating he’d like to return soon.
This incident makes every player in the game pause for thought, because it could happen to anybody at any time, especially with the high pace the game is being played at right now.
A lot of teams are built around speed, but the physical element is always going to be part of the game and nobody wants to see a repeat of what happened Saturday.
The hope is Sabourin will feel better soon and get back to playing. There isn’t any timetable and there won’t be. What matters most right now is that Sabourin gets completely healthy and achieves his goal of getting back in the lineup.
As the Senators all left their bench to wish Sabourin all the best when he was taken off on the stretcher, the Bruins skated over to line up with the Ottawa players.
Borowiecki said it served notice that although the players may be competitors, they care deeply about what happens to each other.
He wasn’t alone in that thinking because down the hall,
Boston coach Bruce Cassidy was noting the same thing.
“You know how I feel about hockey players,” Cassidy said. “I think they’re some of the best human beings I’ve ever been around, but I don’t know. I think it, honestly, in football, any situation like that, I think guys stop and take notice of the big picture in that case.
“I think it was a great sort of little, I don’t want to say tribute, because that’s probably not the right word, but acknowledging that we’re all in it together at the end of the day.”