The day before, new information was received regarding the condition of Salavat Yulaev forward Gleb Kuzmin, who suffered a serious injury during the regular season match against Avangard.
Salavat Yulaev striker Gleb Kuzmina’s wife Kristina has given details about her husband’s condition.
“The condition is stable, while they are kept in intensive care under observation. Compression fracture of the thoracic vertebra. They will operate. We are waiting for a response from the Moscow doctors. Next we will think about transporting them to Moscow. She is not discouraged, she thinks about returning to the ice as soon as possible. She is now in the RCH hospital,” the girl was quoted as saying by the Mash Batash telegram channel.
Serious injuries in Russian hockey
Seven KHL player injuries that are scary to remember
It was also reported that with the support of Salavat Yulaev, a special flight was organized to transport the hockey player to Moscow, where he will undergo surgery in the near future.
Let’s go back to that episode. I’ve known Darren Dietz for a long time, since he played for Barys. Dietz is one of the most decent foreigners in Russian hockey. The Canadian with a Kazakh passport not only has an excellent command of the Russian language, but Darren has not been involved in any scandals. Yes, he could fight, defend his teammates on the ice, but without any rudeness.
The unpleasant incident that occurred during the match in Ufa can certainly be considered an accident and force majeure. The defender himself was clearly concerned when he made his comment during the break.
“These moments are scary, I only wish him health and a speedy recovery so he can return as soon as possible,” said the American.
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In my opinion, Dietz should not be blamed for all the sins and throwing a stone into his garden, but it could still have been played more carefully. Yes, there was no direct push on board the “falcon”, but there was still contact with Kuzmin, hand movements and light pushes. As a result, the accident was aggravated by the fact that Gleb, falling on the ice, accelerated even more and flew headlong to the side with all his might.
“I saw the terrible injury of Salavat player Gleb Kuzmin. Many say that there was no violation of the rules. But I would argue with this; I would even say that I categorically disagree. The forward defender Dietz pushed Kuzmin into the boards while flying at full speed. And this is the same push on board as with two hands on the board. And its consequences are just as serious and sometimes even worse. The League should not swallow this moment and pretend that nothing happened. The man could have died, it smells like a big disqualification for Dietz.
Kuzmin’s terrible injury
Photo: photo.khl.ru
Similar situations have happened before. For example, with SKA player Tankov. He missed a whole year due to a neck injury, but things could only have ended worse. The KHL must make a decision now: either we allow such things to continue and wait for a tragedy to occur, or we will once and for all ban pushing the boards when a player flies towards it at full speed,” says famous referee Alexander Zaitsev.
Zaitsev is too categorical and harsh in his opinion, but there is some logic in his words.
It is really impossible to turn a blind eye to such serious injuries, just as it is impossible to remain silent. In this regard, I would like to know the position of the league and the KHL’s chief referee, Alexei Anisimov. Almost every season we change the rules, sometimes they touch on something that should not be touched. But it is certainly necessary to tighten the rules of the game on the boards. Yes, there are “5+20” for outright fouling and intentional pushing, there are less severe punishments, but all this, as we see, is not enough. Hockey is just a game, although it involves a lot of money. But money cannot buy health, and no one really wants to end their career early and become disabled (or, God forbid, something worse). Risks must be minimized.
