A hockey skate may be the most dangerous piece of equipment used in professional sports. While
serious accidents relating to skate blades are rare in professional hockey, they have certainly been
known to happen.
The most well known incident occurred on March 22, 1989 in a hockey game in Buffalo between the
Sabres and St. Louis Blues. After a freak collision in the goal crease between Uwe Krupp of the
Sabres and Steve Tuttle of the Blues, Tuttle's skate came up off the ice and made contact with Sabre
goaltender Clint Malarchuk's beneath the exposed area of the goalie mask. Malarchuk's jugular vein
would be cut, resulting in one of the most disturbing on-ice visuals in hockey history. Malarchuk's
life was narrowly saved, but it is widely speculated that he came within 1/8 of an inch or several
minutes of death. As a result of the Malarchuk incident, goalies began to wear neck protectors.
On February 10, 2008 another accident occurred in a game between the Sabres and Florida Panthers.
After being tripped up, the skate blade of Florida's Ollie Jokinen would come up and cut an artery in
the neck of teammate Richard Zednik. The end result was a horrific scene. Zednik managed to get off
the ice and was rushed to hospital for life-saving surgery.
Both Malarchuk and Zednik would luckily return to hockey.
On October 15, 1995 during an exhibition game in Mora, Sweden, a player by the name of Bengt Åkerblom
had his neck cut by a hockey skate. He would die from blood loss, becoming one of the few players to
ever lose their life in an on-ice hockey game incident. In response to the incident, that league
mandated that neck protectors be worn by all players.
As mentioned, such incidents are extremely rare but the potential for accident is there for every
player that steps on the ice.
As a result it is important that players are aware of how dangerous the equipment on their feet can
be. Protective equipment must be taken seriously and the safety of fellow players must be kept in
mind at all times.
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