Vasily Podkolzin exits with gruesome head injury after hit from Keaton Middleton
9 months ago
WARNING: Some readers may find the contents of this article troubling.
We cannot stress the content warning above enough.
In the third period of tonight’s AHL matchup between the Abbotsford Canucks and Colorado Eagles, Canucks forward Vasily Pokdolzin was on the receiving end of a hit from Eagles defenceman Keaton Middleton that ended with Podkolzin landing on his head with great force.
Podkolzin appeared to have some sort of seizure or convulsion on the ice in the moments following the hit. We have made the decision not to include that part of the broadcast in our clip of the injury out of respect for the player. It was at this point that all scrums stopped as every player on the ice frantically waved down both training staffs to get to Podkolzin as soon as possible.
Here is how CanucksArmy’s Cody Severtson described the incident in tonight’s edition of The Farmies:
“Podkolzin landed on the ice incredibly hard and, after laying prone for several seconds, began convulsing violently, prompting both team’s skaters to scream for the medical staff.After a few minutes, Podkolzin’s convulsions stopped and medical staff were able to get him seated in a stretcher and off into the ambulance.Both clubs cleared the benches as Podkolzin was stretchered off the ice to pay their respects. Middleton was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct, giving Abbotsford a power play to close the game.”
Fans in attendance reported that Podkolzin was bleeding out of his helmet as a result of the hit. Both benches emptied to show their respect to Podkolzin as the 22-year-old was stretchered off the ice. Another fan in attendance said on Twitter that they saw Podkolzin was conscious while he was being loaded into the ambulance.
Podkolzin has gotten off to about as hot of a start as anyone could have hoped for, scoring five goals and adding two helpers in his first five games in the AHL after being cut from Vancouver during training camp.
The Canucks went on to win 5-2, but there wasn’t much celebration, as obviously all anybody is worried about right now is the condition of Podkolzin.
At this time, the Canucks have not posted an update on Podkolzin’s condition, but we will update this story as soon as we learn more information.
UPDATE 11:21 PM: Podkolzin posted a photo of himself in a hospital bed with the caption “all good, no worries” to Instagram shortly after 11 PM.
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