It was a scary moment Sunday when the Mayor took a skate blade to the thigh. The Mayor played in the annual Thanksgiving tournament last weekend. Unfortunately, the schedule was such that I had to watch every game from home while I worked. Thankfully, the Ice Den has Livebarn now, so I could watch the game. Additionally, my hubby was keeping me updated via text.

While watching Sunday’s semi-final against the Fury, the Hubby texted me that he was taking the Mayor to get stitches. This was definitely a scary moment for me as I had no idea how or where he was hurt. Unfortunately, he was kicked in the thigh with a skate. The resulting wound looked like a stab wound and was 3 cm long.

The medic at the rink tended to him once they realized the severity of his injury on the bench. Unsurprisingly, he was trying to convince the medic that he should be able to go out and finish the game. Mind you he still finished his shift after taking a skate to the thigh. Once the report was filed, my hubby took him to get stitches.

While it was a scary moment for all of us, it could have been much worse. The skate blade narrowly missed his femoral artery, which makes me shudder to think about. If the artery had been cut, the injury would have been catastrophic. Needless to say, we’re investing in compression gear to protect against the skate blades. In the end, he got five stitches and can’t skate for a week.

The referees did not call penalty on the headshot or the kick to the thigh despite USA Hockey’s commitment to player safety. The Livebarn video of the incident wasn’t great due to where it happened on the rink. Our manager requested the security video from the rink, but the director told her that was impossible. Again, so much for a commitment to player safety. Thank God there’s no delayed offsides or icing on PK’s anymore. USA Hockey is out of touch and useless.