Montreal Canadiens prospect Blake Geoffrion suffered a frightening injury on the ice Friday night, suffering a fractured skull and needing emergency surgery to prevent his death.
The 24-year-old Geoffrion was playing for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League against the Syracuse Crunch, when Jean-Philippe Cote hit him hard. The side of Geoffrion's head fell into Cote's skate after being launched off the ice and needed surgery to remove parts of his skull from his brain.
"They removed the piece of his skull that was about the size of a silver dollar," (Geoffrion's father) Danny said by phone on Monday. "They had to replace that with titanium and metal mesh. And that’s what the plate consists of, with the screws and all that, so he now has that in his head. It was unreal."
Although the center is expected to make a full recovery, his hockey career will probably be put on pause. The 2010 Hobey Baker Player of the Year for Wisconsin has already suffered multiple concussions in his career. Geoffrion is awake and has tweeted since suffering the injury, but hockey is on the back burner.
Geoffrion was drafted 56th overall by the Nashville Predators, scoring six goals in 42 games for them over the last two seasons before being traded to the Canadiens during last season. He tallied two goals in 13 games for the Habs. His grandfather and great-grandfather, Howie Morenz and Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, are both in the Hockey Hall of Fame for their exploits with Montreal.