You can’t blame Max Pacioretty for being a little shaken up after seeing teammate P.K. Subban be taken off the ice on a stretcher during last night’s game against the Sabres (above).
Five years ago, Pacioretty was carried off the Bell Center ice on a stretcher after being driven into the stanchion by Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara. He went on to miss the rest of the regular season and was unable to play in the first round series against the Bruins (which Boston won).
“I couldn’t play,” Pacioretty said after Thursday’s game, per Sportsnet. “It was impossible to concentrate after that. Maybe even moreso than a lot of the other guys. Now I know how guys felt when it happened to me.”
"I’ve been in that position before and it brings back a lot of tough memories. It was really hard to watch." - Max Pacioretty on Subban
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 11, 2016
Here’s the incident he’s referring to:
After the game, the Canadiens announced that Subban had suffered a neck injury and that he was being taken to hospital for further testing. The good news was he had normal movement in his extremities.