Joe Sakic and the Snow Blower: D'Oh! Say It Ain't So!

First there was Kellen Winslow and the motorcycle accident that forced the Cleveland Browns' tight end to miss the entire 2005 NFL season after sustaining a serious knee injury.

Then there was Plaxico Burress and the shooting accident that ended his 2008 NFL season, after the New York Giants' wideout accidentally shot himself in the thigh with the gun he was carrying in the waist band of his sweatpants.

And now, there's Joe Sakic and the... 

(...pausing for a moment to gain my composure...) 

...snow-blower accident that has broken three of his fingers. 

That's right.

Add "snow blower" to the list of dangerous items that standard player agreements in all major sports should expressly forbid players from operating while under contract.

Add it to the list that includes motorcycles, firearms, parachutes, wheat threshers (thanks, Pat Verbeek!), airplanes, helicopters, Jessica Simpson—and now snow blowers.

If you haven't yet heard, Sakic, ignoring the "don't feed the machinery human flesh" signs clearly posted all over his Powerland 6.5 HP Snow Thrower Blower, was injured while clearing snow from the machine earlier this week. (Whether or not the actual machine was a Powerland 6.5 HP Snow Thrower Blower or a different manufacturer remains in dispute, but it sure does sound manly, doesn't it?—ed).

Already sidelined with a back injury, Sakic is expected to miss three months while he recovers from surgery to repair tendon damage to his fingers as a result of the accident.

According to a Consumer Products Safety Commission study conducted in 2005, snow blowers ranked as the "fourth-leading cause of finger amputations" in the United States, at over 1,000 a year. It noted there were over 5,000 emergency-room visits due to snow blower-related injuries.

In light of those facts, Sakic appears to be lucky to escape the incident with all three fingers intact. 

He is expected to make a full recovery.