Evgeny Kuznetsov immediately hurt himself trying to throw a hit after being told by Todd Reirden he needed to be more aggressive: 'I couldn't move for six weeks after that'

Evgeny Kuznetsov immediately hurt himself trying to throw a hit after being told by Todd Reirden he needed to be more aggressive: 'I couldn't move for six weeks after that'

Briefly

""A new coach came in and said he needed more aggression from me on the ice," Kuznetsov said, as per a sports.ru transcript and translation by Google Translate. "The day before the game, I thought: that's it, I'm a Canadian. I run out onto the ice, thinking I need to [hit someone]. I see some gnome skating with a puck. His name is (Alexander) Kerfoot. I wanted to skate towards him from the side, but then the whistle blew.""

""I'd already picked up speed, but that bastard just dipped a bit before impact. I crashed into the side of the [boards] and broke everything on the first shift - my shoulder, my nose, my neck. I couldn't move for six weeks after that.""

"The play in question occurred during a Capitals game against Kerfoot and the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 29, 2019. Just one minute into the game, Kuznetsov saw his chance to plaster Kerfoot along the boards, but the diminutive forward got tangled up in Dmitry Orlov 's stick and tripped to the ice before Kuznetsov could lay him out. Instead, Kuznetsov flew over top of Kerfoot and directly into the boards near the end of the Capitals' bench at Scotiabank Arena."

"He stayed down on the ice, clutching at his right shoulder until he was shepherded back to the team's locker room by head trainer Jason Serbus. Kuznetsov missed the next 6:57 of the first period before returning to complete the game. He ended up playing 18:18 of ice time in the Capitals' 4-3 overtime win, firing two shots on goal and"