The Most Painful Injuries in the 2013 NHL Season (With Video)

Kevlar socks have become a new upper-echelon discussion topic in the NHL this season. Extraordinarily, the use of visors remains a debate, too, no matter how many times a vulnerable set of eyes endures the worst.

Or, as was the case this past weekend, when a player like Nate Thompson averts significant bodily damage with such protection.

One would like to think that actively fostering the evolution of equipment with absolutely no obstruction or hesitation would lessen the occurrence of certain hockey injuries that nobody wants to witness, let alone physically suffer.

As was forecast in the wake of the lockout and the hasty dive into a belated, compressed NHL season, there has been a rash of misfortune, health-wise, for the last three months. Not all of those injuries can be traced back to this sprinting marathon, but many of them do signal a harsh call for reformation of some sort, whether it is through equipment, the rulebook or otherwise.

There are other ailments, though, that we must unfortunately concede are incidental and far less plausible to prevent. But that fact does nothing to ease the onlookers’ cringe or the player’s pain.

In alphabetical order, here are those NHL players whose ailments sustained in game action have generated unfavorable visuals as well as bad news for their team's fans as a result of missed games.

Craig Anderson

Right after a tremendous first month to the 2013 campaign, Senators stopper Craig Anderson was forced to sit out six-and-a-half weeks’ worth of game action after this blindsided collision with Chris Kreider.

Artem Anisimov

Understandably, when he was on the cusp of returning to action after this injury, Artem Anisimov told the Columbus Dispatch, “I don’t want to talk about that stuff.”

Because of his reluctance, it is hard to know for certain how physically painful the collision was for him at the time. But the replays of the incident itself and the sight of him being attended to were cringe-worthy enough.

Colby Armstrong

Montreal's Colby Armstrong got the worst of a collision with Joe Corvo on April 1. He has not suited up in the two weeks since.

Cal Clutterbuck

Taylor Hall, the perpetrator of this injurious cheap shot in a Feb. 21 game, sat out two games when he was suspended for it. Cal Clutterbuck, his victim, was out for two weeks, nursing his injury until he was able to return on March 9.

Sidney Crosby

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain only just started skating again on Monday, two weeks after teammate Brooks Orpik’s slapper struck him in the mouth.

Alexei Emelin

The play seen in the clip is what ended Alexei Emelin’s season prematurely. The Montreal aggressor was victimized by a combination of speed and size when he attempted to land a routine hit on Bruins forward Milan Lucic and fell awkwardly on contact.

Dan Girardi

Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi was down on the ice for 50 seconds after an attempt to block PK Subban’s blast went wrong.

Patric Hornqvist

Predators forward Patric Hornqvist was able to stand up without much delay, but not without hunching over and favoring his right arm. He would be placed on injured reserve for two weeks.

Erik Karlsson

Rarely does a camera capture an injured NHLer clearly shouting in anguish. That is how bad the Matt Cooke-Erik Karlsson incident was, a notion that was reinforced when it was announced that the Senators defenseman would not return this season.

Ilya Kovalchuk

Ilya Kovalchuk returned to practice roughly three weeks after sustaining a shoulder injury when he blew a tire and crashed into the boards behind the Florida Panthers’ net. It was another one of those cases where the injured player was able to exit the ice under his own power but was nonetheless hunched over and grimacing.

David Krejci

Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik, who was covering David Krejci, almost immediately did his part to call attention to the Bruins forward when he was errantly struck by Johnny Boychuk’s slap shot.

Phil Larsen and Tommy Wingels

Dallas’ Philip Larsen was whistled for boarding after this collision with San Jose’s Tommy Wingels as they pursued a loose puck behind the Stars’ cage. But Larsen emerged from that collision appearing more shaken up than Wingels and was out of action for several days with a shoulder injury.

Joffrey Lupul

Maple Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul was found to have a fracture in the arm he was clutching as he skated off immediately after he was hit by teammate Dion Phaneuf’s shot.

Evgeni Malkin

Dropped by Florida’s Erik Gudbranson, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin slid into the wall and was subsequently sidelined with a concussion.

Brad Marchand

Brad Marchand has yet to return to normal activity since absorbing this illicit check from New Jersey's Anton Volchenkov.

Cody McLeod

Colorado’s Cody McLeod did his best to stay involved in the play after he was stung by a slap shot, but he had clear difficulty staying up and limped to the locker room once the puck cleared the Avalanche zone.

James Neal

James Neal endured a concussion after being elbowed in the mouth by Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who had his back to the Penguins forechecker when he made an imprudent move in an attempt to keep him away from the puck.

T.J. Oshie

Not unlike the aforementioned Emelin, St. Louis Blues forward T.J. Oshie hurt himself in the midst of attempting to deliver a routine check. He would be placed on injured reserve for nearly a full two weeks.

Joni Pitkanen

The commentators in the video say it best right away. “There’s your argument for no-touch icing.” If that were the case, Joni Pitkanen would still be playing, rather than spending the rest of the season nursing a foot injury.

Darroll Powe

With both seemingly focused on a play developing in the Washington Capitals’ zone, neither the Caps’ Matt Hendricks or the Rangers’ Darroll Powe appeared to realize they were approaching one another. That alone amplified the physical impact of their collision, the worst of which Powe endured.

Brandon Prust

Not unlike the aforementioned Pitkanen injury, Brandon Prust’s ailment could have been averted with better icing rules.

Brad Richards

Although Brad Richards was only out of action from March 3 through March 8, the initial sight of him hitting his shoulder on the boards and grimacing was unpleasant. The hit that left him in that shaken state cost Buffalo Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta a five-game suspension.

Andrej Sekera

Buffalo blueliner Andrej Sekera went down at the hands of Shawn Thornton on Feb. 15 and did not return to game action until Feb. 23.

Patrick Sharp

It was not until after Patrick Sharp had adjourned to the dressing room that NBC Sports Network replays were able to detail the immediate effects of his hit via Ryan O'Byrne during a March 6 contest. He would subsequently sit 14 games with a shoulder injury.

Marc Staal

Eric and Jordan Staal both chose to don visors after their brother, Marc, went through this frightful accident. Based on the sheer sight of the puck striking Staal’s eye and the way he copes with the initial pain, it boggles the mind that other NHLers still choose to forego facial protection.

Brian Strait

Last weekend, Islanders defenseman Brian Strait skated for the first time in nearly two months, in which time he has been treated for a broken ankle sustained in this accident.

Max Talbot

After missing a hit on Washington’s Mike Green, Flyers forward Max Talbot was seen hobbling off the ice and requiring much assistance to get back to the locker room. Initially classified as a “lower-body injury,” his ailment was later specified as a broken leg.

Kris Versteeg

While pursuing the puck in the Tampa Bay Lightning zone, Panthers forward Kris Versteeg was sent sliding without his stick via a hit by Radko Gudas. He was seen favoring his knee, which required surgery that will keep him out of action until next season.

James Wisniewski

In a Feb. 2 game against Detroit, Columbus teammates Nick Foligno and James Wisniewski were entangled behind the opponent’s goal line. Wisniewski was concussed upon hitting his back against the boards and sat out for nearly two full months, returning to action on March 28.

Jason Zucker

Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks was slapped with a four-game suspension when this blindside hit sent Jason Zucker off his feet and falling to the ice on his back during a March 12 game.

Although Zucker took a light skate the next day, he missed a home-and-home series with the Colorado Avalanche on March 14 and 16.