Surreal
It's nearly 12:30 a.m., almost an an hour and a half since I finished the story on Richard Zednik, and I still haven't left the arena. It's almost like Mike Harrington, AP writer John Wawrow and I are in a daze.
Did that really happen? Again? As bad as the luck was for Richard Zednik, just think of how fortunate he really was:
*What if he just falls to the ice in the corner rather than skates to the bench? Do trainers see him in time to help?
*What if he collapses halfway to the bench from all the blood loss? They couldn't have just lifted him back up. They would have had to get the doctors and the stretcher out there, right at center ice with 18,690 watching in horror as a man undergoes life-saving procedures.
*What must those people be thinking who were sitting in the corner where it happened? You can get an idea from this picture, but man, that will be even more unforgettable for them.
*What happens if, God forbid, Zednik takes a turn for the worse? With that injury, he's hardly out of the woods yet, despite the news the surgery was a success and he's resting comfortably. I hope we haven't seen someone's final day.
Rip Simonick said the Clint Malarchuk incident didn't hit him until the next day. Maybe that's why I'm still sitting here, trying to avoid the next day.
---John Vogl
