Close Call For Jiri Fischer

[CentreHice]

www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=144010&hubname=

As Barry Trotz said, "...the game became very secondary..."

[MC Habber]

I find it interesting that the game was called. I can't remember that ever happening before - it didn't happen after the Steve Moore hit or when McCleary was hit in the throat by the puck, nor in several other incidents I've seen where players have left the ice with the potentially life-threatening injuries.

Hopefully Fischer will be ok.

[BadCompany]

I watched the highlights of that this morning, and boy, was it dramatic. Red Wing coaches screaming frantically at the officials, doctors racing down corridors, performing CPR right there on the bench, Steve Yzerman and Kris Draper ripping a stretcher away from a stumbling ambulance attendant and racing across the ice with it, Yzerman and Shanahan escorting/carrying Fischer’s fiancée across the ice to be next to him. All in front of 20,000 silent people.

There was no way they could go on with the game. None. Pointless, for all. How can any fan cheer a mere goal, after watching a guy possibly die in front of them? Good, but obvious call for the NHL.

[Polarice]

I was watching the game last night (center Ice) It took what seemed to be a few minutes for anyone to notice what was happing....the bench was going crazy and the play on the ice was just continuing.

It wasn't until some players jumped over the boards to get out of the way of the Doctors that they stopped play....the TV announcers were confused at first until they seen the medical staff working on someone....it was about 5 min later when they finally found out who it was. They couldn't tell on the replay and when they showed the player they had cut off his Jersey.

The whole rink just went quiet, kinda eerie quiet, you could see the Doctors doing CPR on him.....I thought he was Dead, thought he took a stroke or Brain Aneurysm or something.

Then when they brought his Girlfriend over to him and she was crying I really figured he was a goner.

I agree with BC they had no choice but to cancel the game. I've seen lots of serious things happen on the ice but I've never been witness to something like that....and I hope I never have to see something like that again.

[MC Habber]

badcompany said:

There was no way they could go on with the game. None. Pointless, for all. How can any fan cheer a mere goal, after watching a guy possibly die in front of them? Good, but obvious call for the NHL.

I totally agree, but I wonder why I've never seen it before. Don't you think the Trent McClearly incident deserved the same treatment?

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Good luck Jiri. I hope you can continue your career sometime soon. I hope you can live a long and productive life and that's more important.

[jkr]

habsfaninla said:

Good luck Jiri. I hope you can continue your career sometime soon. I hope you can live a long and productive life and that's more important.

Nice sentiment.

This kind of incident sure puts things in perspective.

[Skilly]

machabby said:

I totally agree, but I wonder why I've never seen it before. Don't you think the Trent McClearly incident deserved the same treatment?

I was thinking the same thing. I was surprised they cancelled the game. The game definately was secondary and I have no objections to them calling the game, but I was left wondering "why this game, why now".

Clint Malarchuck has his jugular cut with a skate blade - the game continued
Donald Audette practically has his hand severed from his wrist - the game continued
Trent McCleary has an emergency traecheotomy performed - the game continued
Brian Savage break his neck - the game continued

Then I wondered whether Sergei Zholtok died between periods or after the game (but I believe that was after the game)

There are other hockey incidents I am sure but those are the immediate ones I remember. I will leave football out of the debate (mainly because you'd have to cancel alot of football games regularly if they were stopped for "terrible life threatening events") but looking at other sports ......

Did the NCAA game that Hank Gathers died at (or eventually died later) continue? And remember umpire John McSherry collapsed and died at an Expos-Reds game - can anyone remember if that game continued?

One of the best-known instances of a game continuing after tragedy was the Champions League Soccer Final in Brussels between Liverpool and Juventus during the 80's. Fights erupted in the stands, stands collapsed and dozens of people were either beaten or crushed to death. All of this happened pre-game but the teams came out and played the game.

[Polarice]

skilly said:

machabby said:

I totally agree, but I wonder why I've never seen it before. Don't you think the Trent McClearly incident deserved the same treatment?

I was thinking the same thing. I was surprised they cancelled the game. The game definately was secondary and I have no objections to them calling the game, but I was left wondering "why this game, why now".

Clint Malarchuck has his jugular cut with a skate blade - the game continued
Donald Audette practically has his hand severed from his wrist - the game continued
Trent McCleary has an emergency traecheotomy performed - the game continued
Brian Savage break his neck - the game continued

Then I wondered whether Sergei Zholtok died between periods or after the game (but I believe that was after the game)

There are other hockey incidents I am sure but those are the immediate ones I remember. I will leave football out of the debate (mainly because you'd have to cancel alot of football games regularly if they were stopped for "terrible life threatening events") but looking at other sports ......

Did the NCAA game that Hank Gathers died at (or eventually died later) continue? And remember umpire John McSherry collapsed and died at an Expos-Reds game - can anyone remember if that game continued?

One of the best-known instances of a game continuing after tragedy was the Champions League Soccer Final in Brussels between Liverpool and Juventus during the 80's. Fights erupted in the stands, stands collapsed and dozens of people were either beaten or crushed to death. All of this happened pre-game but the teams came out and played the game.

Its all eye candy for the New NHL.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

skilly said:

machabby said:

I totally agree, but I wonder why I've never seen it before. Don't you think the Trent McClearly incident deserved the same treatment?

I was thinking the same thing. I was surprised they cancelled the game. The game definately was secondary and I have no objections to them calling the game, but I was left wondering "why this game, why now".

Clint Malarchuck has his jugular cut with a skate blade - the game continued
Donald Audette practically has his hand severed from his wrist - the game continued
Trent McCleary has an emergency traecheotomy performed - the game continued
Brian Savage break his neck - the game continued

Then I wondered whether Sergei Zholtok died between periods or after the game (but I believe that was after the game)

There are other hockey incidents I am sure but those are the immediate ones I remember. I will leave football out of the debate (mainly because you'd have to cancel alot of football games regularly if they were stopped for "terrible life threatening events") but looking at other sports ......

Did the NCAA game that Hank Gathers died at (or eventually died later) continue? And remember umpire John McSherry collapsed and died at an Expos-Reds game - can anyone remember if that game continued?

One of the best-known instances of a game continuing after tragedy was the Champions League Soccer Final in Brussels between Liverpool and Juventus during the 80's. Fights erupted in the stands, stands collapsed and dozens of people were either beaten or crushed to death. All of this happened pre-game but the teams came out and played the game.

I too was initially surprised that the game was called off. In retrospect, my initial reaction to continue the game was wrong and the NHL did the right thing. WOW! How often do I say that?

[IamCanadiens]

habsfaninla said:

I hope you can continue your career sometime soon. I hope you can live a long and productive life and that's more important.

Of those 2 thoughts I hope Jiri cares about the latter more. His life is more important than hockey. Professional athletes put their bodies through severe stresses on a daily basis. Considering his medical history he better call it a career. Way too many athletes temp fate and lose. His family doesn't need to see another Zholtok scenario.

[seventeen]

skilly said:

One of the best-known instances of a game continuing after tragedy was the Champions League Soccer Final in Brussels between Liverpool and Juventus during the 80's. Fights erupted in the stands, stands collapsed and dozens of people were either beaten or crushed to death. All of this happened pre-game but the teams came out and played the game.

That's because we soccer guys are totally inurred to disaster and catastrophe. Wait, is that inurred or inebriated?

[mic]

skilly said:

machabby said:

One of the best-known instances of a game continuing after tragedy was the Champions League Soccer Final in Brussels between Liverpool and Juventus during the 80's. Fights erupted in the stands, stands collapsed and dozens of people were either beaten or crushed to death. All of this happened pre-game but the teams came out and played the game.

Well, they also played the game because they feared that "supporters" of both teams would kill each other and the players if the game wasn't played. By the way, I could be mistaken, but only a handful FIFA officials knew at the time what happened. The players knew that some mass movements occured, but didn't know anybody go killed. Same for the vast majority of the attendence.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Hearing how this came about, I thought of Zholtok shortly afterwards. Zholtok didn't feel well on the bench and never made to the dressingroom. What's more of a concern is that Zholtok had previous symptoms before the one that killed him and still decided to play anyway.

Like Zholtok, I think I read that Fischer had been diagnosed with a condition back in '02. I'm hoping he decides to re-evaluate playing again. While he's an excellent hockey player, he might be better off not playing again.

Of course I'm not a doctor, but I know what I'd do.

Cheers.

[MC Habber]

disgruntled70shab said:

Of course I'm not a doctor, but I know what I'd do.

I'm not sure what I'd do. Logically it might make sense to call it a career, especially with the money he's probably already earned, but it would be a tough decision, giving up the thing you love to do and are most gifted at, particularly given that he's only 25.

[BadCompany]

skilly said:

machabby said:

I totally agree, but I wonder why I've never seen it before. Don't you think the Trent McClearly incident deserved the same treatment?

I was thinking the same thing. I was surprised they cancelled the game. The game definately was secondary and I have no objections to them calling the game, but I was left wondering "why this game, why now".

Clint Malarchuck has his jugular cut with a skate blade - the game continued
Donald Audette practically has his hand severed from his wrist - the game continued
Trent McCleary has an emergency traecheotomy performed - the game continued
Brian Savage break his neck - the game continued

Then I wondered whether Sergei Zholtok died between periods or after the game (but I believe that was after the game)

There are other hockey incidents I am sure but those are the immediate ones I remember. I will leave football out of the debate (mainly because you'd have to cancel alot of football games regularly if they were stopped for "terrible life threatening events") but looking at other sports ......

Did the NCAA game that Hank Gathers died at (or eventually died later) continue? And remember umpire John McSherry collapsed and died at an Expos-Reds game - can anyone remember if that game continued?

One of the best-known instances of a game continuing after tragedy was the Champions League Soccer Final in Brussels between Liverpool and Juventus during the 80's. Fights erupted in the stands, stands collapsed and dozens of people were either beaten or crushed to death. All of this happened pre-game but the teams came out and played the game.

The Expos-Reds game was cancelled (after only 2 pitches). It was sort of a big deal, as it was the first game of the year, and there were 50,000 fans in the stands (some of whom, incredibly, booed when the announcement was made), but also the right call.

In the case of Brian Savage, I guess they didn’t cancel the game because we’ve all become so accustomed to seeing players leaving on stretchers as precautionary measures that it’s become no big deal. Most of the time nothing is seriously wrong with the player when that happens (remember when the ambulance guys dropped Mike Modano? That was funny), and I think we sort of expect that. “Oh, it looks bad, but there, I saw his hand move, he’s okay, lets keep playing.” It was only later that we learned he had actually broken his back.

In McCleary’s case so few people knew what had happened that I don’t think it registered with anybody. He skated off on his own, and then collapsed in the hallway, obscured from the view of most fans, and then quickly whisked away. Very few people in the stands knew. I don’t think his teammates even knew, until they got into the dressing room after the period. And correct me if I am wrong, but I thought they, meaning the Canadiens, discussed whether or not to go back onto the ice, and decided they should? Am I wrong on that?

As for Fischer continuing with his career, I guess it all depends on why he collapsed. If the doctors say he collapsed because he was pushing his heart too hard, then by all means, call it a night. But if they say "blah, blah, blah, could have happened while you were watching TV" then why shouldn't he keep playing?

I think its too early to be speculating on what he should do. You'd have to know why it happened first, to make an informed decision.

[MC Habber]

Makes sense. I guess that answers my question.