Nashville forward Martin Erat was injured during World Championships in Finland and Sweden yesterday, that much we know. How badly he’s hurt, however, appears to be a matter of opinion.
Erat went down after taking a blindside hit from Slovakia’s Libor Hudacek during their semifinal match-up. Erat was taken off the ice with an apparent head injury and did not return to the game. As Joshua Cooper of The Tennessean shares, however, whether or not Erat has a concussion is up for debate.
Czech Republic General Manager Slava Lener said Erat suffered a concussion. This appears to not be the case. According to Erat’s agent Mike Deutsch, the Predators’ leading scorer from 2011-12 did not suffer a concussion. Deutsch said Erat is ‘fine’ and that he suffered a bit of a ‘stiff neck.’
One way or another, Erat isn’t feeling too good and his status for next season in Nashville shouldn’t be in doubt. Then again, concussions sometimes take time to make themselves apparent and that “stiff neck” could very well be a head injury.
Check out video of the hit here.