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Former NHL player Wojtek Wolski in intensive care after collision in KHL game

Wolski fractured two vertebrae and suffered a concussion.

By Patrick Iversen
2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic - Practice Sessions Photo by Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images

Former NHL player Wojtek Wolski is currently in intensive care after a scary collision in a KHL game on Thursday.

Wolski, currently a winger for Metallurg Magnitogorsk, was chasing a loose puck towards the boards when he got tangled up with Barys player Vladimir Markelov. Both players went sliding into the boards, and Wolski certainly got the worst of the two. He required a stretcher to leave the ice.

Metallurg’s head coach initially said Wolski was being looked at for a concussion. The team later offered a much more grim update: Wolski fractured the fourth and seventh vertebrae of his spinal cord in addition to suffering a concussion and face abrasions. He’s currently in intensive care and will be transferred to the neurosurgery wing on Oct. 15.

As one would expect, his 2016-17 season is over. Wolski, 30, played 451 games in the NHL for the New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers, Phoenix Coyotes, and Colorado Avalanche before joining the KHL in 2013. He was drafted 21st overall by the Avalanche in 2004.