Injuries are a part of sports, especially in hockey. But Sunday night's Florida Panthers-Buffalo Sabres game featured one of the most gruesome injuries ever. Midway through the third period, Panthers forward Richard Zednik was circling the net when teammate Olli Jokinen was taken to the ice by a hit from Sabres forward Clarke MacArthur. Jokinen's leg flew up, and the skate sliced Zednik across the neck.
Thankfully, Zednik was able to get off the ice and was transported to Buffalo General Hospital, where he underwent lifesaving surgery to repair his severed carotid artery. In honor of Zednik, the Daily gives you the Top 10 worst sports injuries of all-time. Warning: not to be read in Dewick.
10. Barbaro: He won the 2006 Kentucky Derby and was the next in a long line of Triple Crown hopefuls. And while every horse since Affirmed in 1978 has come up short, no story was as tragic as Barbaro's. Perhaps the horse with the best chance of breaking the streak, Barbaro came up lame in the opening stretch of the Preakness Stakes, but tried to continue racing on three legs before his jockey Edgar Pardo could stop him. The broken leg ended his racing career, and eventually led to the laminitis that caused his death.
9. Monica Seles: As the top women's tennis player in the world in 1993 - she had a stunning eight Grand Slam titles by age 19 - Seles was stabbed between the shoulder blades during a match in Hamburg by a deranged fan of Steffi Graf. Although the physical injury healed after several weeks in the hospital, Seles did not return to the tour for over two years and never returned to her previous level of dominance.
8. Kirby Puckett: Puckett ended up on the receiving end of a fastball from Dennis Martinez in Sept. 1995 that broke his left jaw and ended Puckett's season. The injury also marked his last MLB regular season at-bat, as he was diagnosed with glaucoma in his right eye the following March, cutting short his Hall of Fame career.
7. Tyrone Prothro: Prothro, the one-time Alabama receiver, might be best known for his amazing catch versus Southern Mississippi in which he caught the ball against the defensive back's head. The wide receiver also suffered one of the worst injuries in college football history when he broke his tibia and fibula hauling in a touchdown catch versus Florida. The receiver's leg snapped just above the ankle, and his ankle was at a 90 degree angle, ending his career. Don't believe us? See YouTube.
6. Willis McGahee: When a football helmet meets a knee, only bad things can happen. The former Miami star running back found that out during the 2003 Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State. After the collision, McGahee's knee hyperextended, completely dislocating the knee and ripping nearly all of his ligaments. Several surgeries and extensive rehabilitation enabled him to move on to a relatively successful NFL career.
5. Shaun Livingston: Continuing with the theme of horrendous knee injuries, the Clippers guard landed awkwardly after scoring a layup in Feb. 2007 against the Bobcats, dislocating his left knee cap as his leg snapped laterally. Virtually every part of his knee was injured and Livingston has yet to return to the lineup.
4. Napoleon McCallum: The former Raiders running back opened up his 1994 season in the worst possibly way. In a Monday Night game versus the San Francisco 49ers, McCallum tore almost every muscle in his leg - the calf, hamstring and three ligaments - and also ruptured an artery in his knee. Niners linebacker Ken Norton Jr. hit him so hard that McCallum's cleat was stuck into the ground, and his leg was twisted almost backward. Yikes.
3. Clint Malarchuk: Zednik's injury must have made NHL fans think back to 1989, when Buffalo Sabres goalie Malarchuk's throat was slashed in a game versus the St. Louis Blues. The Blues' Steve Tuttle and the Sabres' Uwe Krupp slammed into each other in front of the goal, and Tuttle's skate came into Malarchuk's neck. With blood flowing down all over the ice, Malarchuk somehow managed to get to the bench. The wound required over 300 stitches, but the goalie was back playing a week later. Hey, he's a hockey player.
2. Allen Ray: After diving for a loose ball in a game versus Pittsburgh, Villanova's Allen Ray wasn't left thinking who had come up with the ball; he was too busy wondering if he was going to be blind. That's because Pitt's Carl Krauser accidentally poked Ray in the eye, actually forcing his eyeball out of its socket. Fortunately, the 'Nova star was able to get back on the court and help his team reach the Elite Eight.
1. Joe Theismann: Arguably one of the more gruesome injuries in NFL history, the former Redskins QB suffered both a fractured tibia and fibula after Giants LBs Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson sandwiched Theismann after a failed flea-flicker play in a 1985 divisional game. The play ended Theismann's career, and the game footage remains a chilling sight to this day.
