During the second period of last night’s Game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference Finals, Bruins center Gregory Campbell dove to the ice to get in front of a shot taken by Penguins star Evgeni Malkin. The shot broke Campbell’s leg, specifically the right fibula. He stayed on the ice for 10 seconds, clearly in pain. Then he did something only a hockey player would do.
He got up and killed the rest of the penalty off.
The role player went to the ice to block Evgeni Malkin’s shot and struggled to get back to his feet after being hit in the right leg. Once he did stand and pick up his glove, he continued killing the penalty on one good leg, circling and keeping his stick in the passing lanes and standing in the shooting lanes to deny the Penguins a clean shot from the point.
He did this for the next 40 seconds. On a broken leg. Let me just repeat that for everybody. ON A BROKEN LEG.
Let’s go to the tape.
We see here the initial shot that Campbell takes. This right here is what breaks the fibula, which Wikipedia tells me is one of the two bones that make up your leg. This is a pretty important bone that we’re talking about here.
Now, after taking ten seconds to think about the fact that his leg is broken, Campbell does the perfectly sane thing of getting up and continuing to try and play a professional sport. On one leg.
Ten seconds later, Campbell is still playing a professional sport. As you see, he even successfully breaks up a pass to Evgeni Malkin. Again, Campbell’s leg is still broken.
Another ten seconds have gone by, and Campbell is still on the ice, mixing it up, getting in shooting lanes. He still has a broken leg at this point. Nothing has changed in the leg-breakage situation. This leg is still broken.
At the end of the penalty, now at even strength, a full 40 seconds later, Campbell skates off the ice (STILL WITH A BROKEN LEG) and rushes into the arms of his trainer. The Bruins fans gave him a standing ovation.
The Bruins went on to win the game 2-1 in OT. It was the last moment Campbell spend on the ice; his season is over. Being that he has a broken leg and all.
HOCKEY PLAYERS ARE TOUGHER THAN YOU AND ME.
No comments:
Post a Comment