Patrick Thoresen and the Price He Paid

The unfortunate man you see in the photo here is Patrick Thoresen of the Philadelphia Flyers. If you're not a fan of the Flyers, you could be forgiven for not knowing who he is.

Trust me when I say that the Washington Capitals got to know him well in Game One of their Eastern Conference Playoff series. For better than two periods, Thoresen was a beast on the forecheck and fearless in the defensive zone, never more than in the third period when he threw himself in front of a Mike Green slap shot.

It was a selfless decision, and one that Thoresen paid for. The puck hit Thoresen in the groin, and he dropped to the ice in obvious pain. From where I sat, it seemed as if he had been hit in the rib cage. It wasn't until after the game that we heard from the Flyers that Thoresen was headed to Washington Hospital Center, with the team fearing that the young player might have to have a testicle removed.

Thankfully, that didn't come to pass, and in fact, Thoresen is in the lineup tonight for Game Three of the series against Washington. Over at Covered in Oil, they're having a discussion on just how hard that puck must have hit him.

Somehow, I'm not sure I want to think about it.