A Scary Incident

If there's one stereotype that goalies hold in hockey, it's that they are generally regarded as being a little bit odd. I'm not sure this is entirely valid, but the adage has lived on throughout the passage of time. If there's one thing about goalies that I know, it's that they wear a ton of equipment and they sweat a lot when playing. For some goalies, the constant reaching for the water bottle on top of the net is a matter of trying to stave off cramps and keeping the hydration up, but to see what happened to Michal Neuvirth tonight is downright scary.

Neuvirth was reportedly feeling ill earlier in the day when he accepted his assignment to start tonight versus the New Jersey Devils. Things seemed to be going fine until midway through the first period during a stoppage in play.

Yikes. That's one of the scariest things one will see on the ice. Neuvirth appeared to be ok physically as he was carted off the ice, but you never want to see anything like that. Let's hope it was a mild case of dehydration and the young netminder simply got light-headed while standing in the crease.

What makes this a little crazier is that another goaltender collapsed in his crease in an NHL game without notice. We'll jump back to 2010 when Ondrej Pavelec collapsed in the opening two minutes of the 2010 season while with the Atlanta Thrashers.

Now, you might be saying that it's just coincidence in terms of these two men collapsing, but the netminder in the Washington net that night was none other than Michal Neuvirth. Of course, these two incidents are, in no way whatsoever, related, but it's just a little Twilight Zone-ish that Neuvirth was on the ice for Pavelec's collapse and then has one of his own.

Here's hoping Neuvirth is healthy and back in the nets soon.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!