Good News For Florida Panthers Goalie Tomas Vokoun

The Panthers received good news Tuesday that goalie Tomas Vokoun suffered no internal or neurological damage when hit with a teammate's stick Monday evening in Atlanta. Vokoun, who left Monday's game in the first period after getting hit accidentally by the stick of defensemen Keith Ballard, stopped at the team's training facility at incredible ICE and was "in great spirits other than a sore ear," said GM Randy Sexton.

Coach Peter DeBoar said he doesn't see Vokoun, who received 10 stitches in his ear, being out very long.

“Whenever he can get a helmet (mask) on I think he’ll play. That's kind of (the talk) around the dressing room here and amongst our training staff,” DeBoer said. “It’s in an uncomfortable spot to put a goalie mask on. As soon as we can rig something up to get his helmet on around the stitches, he’ll be ready to play, whether that’s Wednesday, Thursday or the weekend, it won’t be long term.”

After Ilya Kovalchuk scored at 8:54 of the first period, a frustrated Ballard went to swing his stick at the goal post when it accidentally hit Vokoun on the side of the mask. Vokoun was taken off the ice on a stretcher but later flew home on the team plane.

This is not an uncommon thing that happens in the NHL. Last year, at the World Championships, Tomas Surovy, upset about a goal, swung his stick and clipped goalie Jaroslav Halak on top of his mask.

GM Randy Sexton doesn't believe that Ballard will be disciplined because he already feels bad enough about what happened.

“It was an accident, there was no ill will intended,” he added. “Hockey is a passionate game. While we don’t condone those actions, clearly, guys who play with passion and compete and care sometimes make mistakes, and that’s what happened (Monday). It was an unfortunate accident.”

DeBoer added; “It’s not an issue in our dressing room among our players and we’re concentrating on Colorado (Wednesday).”

Scott Clemmensen, who replaced Vokoun in Atlanta, will meet the Avalanche for the first time in his career. Clemmensen is 3-3 this season with a 3.70 goals against. He stopped 28 of 30 shots Monday in Atlanta.

The point being that accidents happen, sometimes unintentional, as was the case with Keith Ballard. I'm sure he will think twice before swinging his stick in frustration, especially when the goalie is in very close range. Good news is Tomas Vokoun is back with the team and will not miss too many games.