Get Well O'Reilly

Last night during the Avalanche game against Minnesota there was a scene that no sports fan ever wants to see.  While killing a penalty in the second period Ryan O"Reilly a kid playing his second year for the Avs and just getting ready to turn 20 had his skate catch a rut in the ice and he ended up going into the boards head first.  It was a pretty scary scene and after the medics had come out and looked at him they took him off on a stretcher and took him to the hospital.

Video of the incident...  http://video.thescore.com/watch/oreilly-crashes-headfirst-into-boards

Later in the game they reported that he was moving his extremities and today it was reported that he has no head or neck injuries but has a shoulder injury that might be pretty bad.  Quincey, one of his teammates, had a shoulder injury earlier in the season that ended the season for him.  Hopefully after further evaluation it isn't that bad, but it certainly could be.

These kinds of things while certainly ugly and not something I want to see anyone have happen to them but are part of sports (I will never understand NFL players lowering their heads to create head to head hits ... lower your shoulder, not your head idiots).  They also server as a reminder to the fans of sports that these are just games and often kids playing them and there is a real danger there.

I admit that I take my hockey (among other sports) fairly seriously.  I get excited by a big play or big hit and I get upset at bad plays or dumb stuff.  I can really get behind my team, and I can really be disappointed when a player isn't playing well especially for stretches of time, and especially when a mistake leads to a loss.

However these players are people.  No matter how badly someone plays and I get peeved with them, I never want to see these injuries happen.  It's important to remember the fact that these players are people as well, even if you don't like how they have performed or they play for a team you don't like.  They have their lives, they have their friends and families, and they are doing their jobs as well ... they just happen to get paid a lot of money to play a game that most of us play for free.

Get well O'Reilly and all those others that have been injured "on the job" ... and get well soon not only so that you can return to the team and contribute but because I truly want your health to be good on or off the team.