Injuries, without a doubt, are the worst thing in sport. In ice hockey, a constant friction activity, they are almost a daily occurrence, and this early season has been no different.
Kirby Dach, who had signed two assists in Montreal' s 6-5 loss at Toronto, the season opener for both franchises, had to leave last Sunday's game against the Blackhawks.
Jarred Tinordi collided with the young forward, sending him into the Chicago bench - his former team - and, as confirmed by the Canadiens, Dach has torn his anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament, so he will have to undergo surgery and will not play for the remainder of the season.
Before starting to play
The bad luck of some players reaches the limit of getting injured in a simple training session. This is the case of Viktor Arvidsson, Swedish forward of the Los Angeles Kings, who was injured in a practice last October 9 and has no signs of returning to the ice soon.
"Unfortunately, he suffered a back injury [...] The next day I look for a more severe diagnosis and it looks like he's going to have to have surgery to fix it. It would have to be evaluated on a month-to-month basis, so we've placed him on the long-term injured list," said Rob Blake, the franchise's General Manager.
Arvidsson was coming off a fantastic return to the level he had shown in Nashville a few years ago. Last season, between regular season and playoffs, he scored 27 goals and 66 points.
Seattle is not spared either
Bad news also for Brandon Tanev, who collided with Golden Knights player Brett Howden and had to leave the game. Howden, who was penalized on the spot for an illegal hit against the opponent's head, also received a two-game punishment from the NHL's Department of Player Safety.
In the 2021/22 season, Tanev missed nearly four months of competition after tearing his ACL.
According to the Seattle Kraken, the Canadian forward will be out 4-6 weeks due to a lower-body injury, although no further details have been released.
Like Dach and Arvidsson, Tanev also posted career-best numbers of 19 assists and 35 points in the 22/23 season, plus a goal and three assists in the playoffs.