NHL player Mats Zuccarello was injured during a Nov. 14 hockey game after a hockey puck landed in his groin, according to reports.
He shoots, he scores… a trip to the ER.
Minnesota Wild player Mats Zuccarello was injured during an NHL game against the Montreal Canadiens after a shot hit him in the groin, according to Fox Sports.
As one of the team’s defensemen, Brock Faber, attempted to score a goal during the Nov. 14 game, the hockey puck landed in his teammate’s pelvic area instead. The right winger immediately fell to the ground and was later taken to hospital, per the outlet.
Left winger Marcus Foligno later gave an update on Zuccarello’s condition, confirming the 37-year-old “got hit where the sun don’t shine and ruptured his testicle.”
“We thought he was gonna lose one nut,” Foligno said on the 93X Half-Assed Morning Show Nov. 20, “but actually, it survived. He’s got both still, so that’s good.”
Although Zuccarello was wearing proper equipment, Foligno said the protective cup “had a massive dent in it.”
After undergoing surgery, Zuccarello—who has played for the Wild since 2019—is expected to miss roughly four weeks of play, Fox Sports reported.
Now that the NHL pro is on the road to recovery, his teammate was able to look back at the incident more humorously.
“It was funny after, now that he’s OK,” Foligno admitted. “But I think he’s one of those positions where he can’t even lift anything.”
And after the Wild came away from the Nov. 14 face-off with a 3-0 victory, the team’s coach John Hynes told reporters he was optimistic Zuccarello would be back in full force.
“Zuccy’s such an important part of the team,” Hynes said, per ESPN. “I’ve really enjoyed coaching him. He’s a veteran player, he’s an extreme competitor, he’s got great hockey sense and his value on the power play.”
The coach continued, “He’s played a long time, too, and I know when he comes back, he’s going to be back to where he is.”
