Stitched-up McQuaid counts his blessings
Adam McQuaid expects to play tonight in Ottawa, but to paraphrase the Bruins defenseman, he needs to thank the man upstairs for just being upright.
McQuaid received about 25 stitches on his neck when David Backes’ skate blade caught him in the throat late in the B’s 3-2 win against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.
At Warrior Ice Arena yesterday, the fresh wound on McQuaid started at his Adam’s apple and stretched across his neck to below his right ear.
“Initially, it’s a bit of a panic, I guess. But when you don’t see blood spraying, I guess you think you’re all right. But it was definitely a really close call and I can’t help but thank God that it wasn’t a scarier situation than it could have been,” said McQuaid, who did not practice.
He remembered the feel of Backes’ skate making contact with his exposed neck, and he initially dropped his stick and glove. But with the Bruins trying to kill the clock while nursing a onegoal lead, he continued to play and finished his shift.
“They didn’t blow the whistle, so the game was still going on and obviously an important part of the game so . . . I was pretty helpless there without my stick and stuff, so I was just trying to be an extra body in the way,” he said.
McQuaid, who has had his share of serious injuries throughout his career, thought he was OK when he reached the bench.
“Once I got to the bench, Colin Miller was the first one to see me. At first he was like, ‘You’re OK.’ Then he was like, ‘Actually, you’re cut. You might want to get that looked at,’ ” said McQuaid.
Cleared to play tonight, McQuaid might wear extra protection.
“We’ll probably play around with it. There are different things we’ve been talking about. I’m not sure what we’re going to do exactly,” he said.
Hockey players routinely play through injuries that would put others on the couch for weeks. Every now and then there is a mishap that befalls a player that has other hockey people saying, “Whoa.” The cut on McQuaid was one of those.
“He’s a tough customer, and I’m not telling you something you don’t already know,” said interim coach Bruce Cassidy. “That’s a scary injury. He even stayed on the ice, so I’m not even sure he knew what was going on. But it was scary. He got lucky.”
Cehlarik chases No. 1
Peter Cehlarik was on the ice before practice with fellow Slovakian Zdeno Chara shooting pucks. The rookie is doing lots of things right, but he still is looking for that first goal. He hit a post Saturday. He had a goal taken off the scoreboard in Los Angeles because of an offside.
“Any guy like him who’s an offensive player and has had the looks he’s had is probably wondering if he’s ever going to score. Or if he does, are they going to count it?” said Cassidy. “But he’s just got to play through it. The good news is we’re winning games and he’s doing his job away from the puck. He’s not a liability out there and he’s still making plays and the puck’s finding him. If I were him, I’d be worried if the puck stops finding him. That’s when you know that your game needs adjustments. As long as he sticks with it, doesn’t start squeezing his stick, I think he’ll get his goals.”
Karlsson’s growth
San Jose’s Brent Burns probably has the Norris Trophy sewn up, but Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson is having an impressive season. Karlsson has 11 goals and 45 assists entering tonight’s game against the Bruins. Once considered such a defensive liability that he often served bench minors, he leads the league in blocked shots (170). He’s rarely hits anyone (0.9 hits per game) but he doesn’t have to.