Joe Corvo On IR With Leg Laceration: Skates Are Sharp

Carolina Hurricanes' defenseman Joe Corvo was placed on the IR and is expected to miss 8-12 weeks as a result of a leg laceration he suffered in a collision with Capitals' defenseman Karl Alzner.  Corvo becomes the second Hurricanes player to miss time this season after being cut with a skate: Cam Ward still has not returned from a leg laceration suffered in early November.

Luckily such injuries are relatively few and far between in the NHL because they have the potential to be very serious. Two seasons ago, linesman Pat Dapuzzo suffered 10 facial fractures and required 40 stitches after taking a skate to the face.  Also two seasons ago, Richard Zednik suffered a scary injury, taking a skate to the neck.  In 1998, Vancouver Canucks center Josh Holden severed tendons in his wrist to the point that he could only move his baby finger. Donald Audette suffered a similar injury in 2001 and needed emergency surgery to save the use of his arm.  Dan Boyle missed more than a month of time when a falling skate in the locker room severed tendons in his wrist in 2007.  Probably the most horrifying incident came in 1989 when netminder Clint Malarchuk, like Zednick, took a skate to the neck (WARNING: video is graphic).  

Fortunately given the severity of the injuries that can occur, no players have suffered permanent damage from skate lacerations; in all the aforementioned cases, the individuals made a full recovery.  

As long as hockey players use skates, which are essentially knives strapped to boots, similar injuries remain a real concern -- and somehow, I don't see skates going anywhere.