Patrick Thoresen of the Philadelphia Flyers was released from hospital Saturday, one day after taking a slapshot off the groin from Mike Green of the Washington Capitals. (CP Images)
It was the shot that caused the collective wince of a million men.
Shortly after 9:00 Friday evening in a highly-entertaining opener in the Capitals/Flyers series, Philly forward Patrick Thoresen took a Mike Green slapshot off the, um, well, off the one spot on your body where you don't want to take a slapshot. From Green or a six-year-old in his first year of tyke.
When it was realized where Thoresen was hit, millions of men shuddered, most feeling a sharp pang in the pit of their stomach at the same time.
And while we are all exhaling that Thoresen doesn't face the grim surgical procedure that was being discussed immediately after he took one in the boys, Philadelphia fans, who at times can be a little over the top when trumpeting the injustices heaped on their team, would seem to have a point here.
Why, exactly, was play not whistled dead when Thoresen went down like a sack, if you'll pardon the play on words?
In case you missed it, as Thoresen lay writhing in pain on the ice, the Capitals tied the game up.
Here, verbatim, is the interpretation straight from the pages of the NHL rulebook:
Rule 18: Injured Players
f. When a player is injured so that he cannot continue play or go to his bench, the play shall not be stopped until the injured player's Team has secured possession of the puck; if the player's Team is in possession of the puck at the time of injury, play shall be stopped immediately unless his Team is in a scoring position.
In the case where it is obvious that a player has sustained a serious injury, the Referee and/or Linesman may stop the play immediately.
Because of teams like the Buffalo Sabres, who have unnamed players - cough, Derek Roy, cough - that like to dive and flop around like seals, this rule has to be implemented. Gotcha.
But how, exactly, do you define a "serious injury"?
I mean, if a guy is rolling around in obvious pain, leaving his team shorthanded with the best player in the world on the ice, do you honestly think he's trying to pull a fast one?
If he is going to fake an injury, do you not think he will pick a time a little more convenient than a playoff game, with his team up by one in the final period?
It's tough to pin the blame on the refs, with the amount of diving in this NHL these days, but let's just say Flyer fans have a valid point and leave it at that.
Think play would have been stopped had Crosby, Malkin or Ovechkin been rolling around the ice in agony?
And that, exactly, is why Flyer fans have an argument.