On Sunday, Feb. 10, the NHL was dealt a serious blow. With 10 minutes left in a game against the Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers’ forward Richard Zednik had his throat cut by teammate Olli Jokinen, who was upended by a Buffalo player. Jokinen’s skate was lifted into the air, hitting Zednik’s throat in the process.

Immediately after being hit Zednik fell to the ice and grabbed his throat. Luckily, he had the presence of mind to skate right over to his bench, leaving a trail of blood behind him on the ice. As soon as the referees noticed what had happened, play was stopped, and a sell-out crowd at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo went silent. Everyone in the Arena, including the announcers, knew the injury was bad due to the amount of blood on the ice; it turns out they were right. Zednik’s carotid artery has been sliced open, but fortunately for him, not all the way through.

After a Panthers’ trainer applied a towel to the injury, Zednik was escorted into the locker room, with all medical personnel in the arena following him. Players huddled over to their benches with their hands over their mouths and a trail of blood leading straight into the Panthers’ locker room. For 15 minutes the Arena was silent, all of the fans on hand hoping for the best. The zamboni had gone over the patches of ice covered in blood, in an attempt to erase the horrid event that had just taken place.

Finally, after all of the waiting, it was announced that Zednik was in stable condition and on his way to a local hospital. The sell-out crowd stood in applause for over a minute, showing the utmost respect for such an incident. Sadly, this was not the first time an incident like this has happened in the NHL; it wasn’t even the first time the incident has happened in Buffalo.

On March 22, 1989, Buffalo goalie Clint Malarchuk had his jugular vein cut open by an opposing player. He fell to his knees and attempted to cover his neck as blood shot out of his throat. The announcers were literally left speechless. There were reports that 11 fans fainted and two more had heart attacks when Malarchuk’s gruesome injury happened. On top of that, three players vomited on the ice. It took 300 stitches to close the cut on Malarchuk’s throat. It was an event that Buffalo fans will never erase from their heads, and after watching Zednik leave the ice on Sunday the only thought on everyone’s minds was, “Not again.”

Malarchuk told The Calgary Herald on Monday, “And I was sick. In my head. In my heart. I didn’t have a cold. I didn’t have flu. But I felt sick just the same. I just could not deal with this. It’s been a hard day for me. A very hard day. Harder, actually, than when I was hurt.”

Even after losing half of a gallon of blood, Zednik survived and is now in good condition. His carotid artery did not sever completely and thus, he was able to be saved. If the artery had been completely cut through, then it would have been harder to find and reconnect, and Zednik might not be in the same situation he is in today. On Tuesday, Zednik was able to talk, and within 72 hours he should be released from the hospital.

Buffalo went on to win the game 5-3, but it was obvious that the players on either side were not worried about the game. Even after Buffalo’s Derek Roy scored with under two minutes remaining, the team did not celebrate. The fans applauded, but very solemnly. Everyone realized the seriousness of the moment, a moment that players and fans alike hope will never happen again. Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff described the mood on his team’s bench to reporters: “It was pretty solemn. There wasn’t a lot being said. There was just more concern for Richard than anything else. … When you see something like that, it isn’t about playing anymore.”

Thanks to the tremendous medical effort from the on-hand personnel and the doctors at the Buffalo hospital Zednik will be back on the ice in the near future.