ST. PAUL, Minn. – Eric Staal says a frightening head-first crash into the boards could have been a lot worse.
The Minnesota Wild, speaking the Minneapolis Star-Tribune hockey scribe Michael Russo, said it’s a scary feeling, knowing how bad a collision like that can be. Staal, 32, sustained a concussion and had to be helped off the ice on Saturday, in what turned out to be the Wild’s final game of the season.
He told Russo he initially felt numbness in his feet.
“It’s a scary play,” Staal told the Star-Tribune. “I had a lot of people that care about me, which I appreciate, reaching out. Glad it wasn’t worse.”
He said he still feels stiff and admitted to not feeling well for a couple of days after the Game 5 incident against the St. Louis Blues.
“But as far as my head goes, it’s cleared up quite a bit over the last couple days. I don’t foresee it …, I mean, I’m hoping it doesn’t get worse. But I feel pretty good,” he told Russo.
Fellow Thunder Bay NHLer Carter Hutton, asked after the game, sent his best wishes to Staal, the eldest of four hockey-playing brothers.
“It’s obviously something you don’t want to see. Hopefully he’s OK. It’s just the hazards of the game. It’s so fast out there and I just wish him the best.”
