Keith Ballard whacks his own goalie in the head with his stick out of frustration

[JXC]

Keith Ballard's Frustration Leads to Tomas Vokoun Leaving on Stretcher -- NHL FanHouse

Keith Ballard's Frustration Leads to Tomas Vokoun Leaving on Stretcher
Posted Nov 30th 2009 8:30PM by Adam Gretz
Filed under: Panthers, NHL Injuries, NHL Videos
Bizarre -- and scary -- sequence of events in Monday's Florida vs. Atlanta game, as Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun had to leave the game on a stretcher after his teammate, Keith Ballard, whacked him across the head with his stick in frustration after an Ilya Kovalchuk goal.

Yikes. The logical explanation (and, frankly, the only explanation) is that he was trying to break his stick in frustration on the goal post and, well, you see what happened. This, of course, would be exhibit A as to why such a reaction is a very, very bad -- and careless -- idea.

According to George Richards of the Miami Herald, Vokoun was taken to a local hospital, is alert and being treated for "ear lacerations."

Vokoun surrendered two goals on five shots and was replaced by backup Scott Clemmensen.

And, yes, something like this has happened before, as Tomas Surovy and Jaroslav Halak had a similar encounter at the World Championships back in May.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jETOshVnLO8&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube- Keith Ballard Chops Tomas Vokoun in The Face Accidently[/ame]



Glad he isn't hurt seriously. They said he would be fine. But I can't believe Ballard did this. How do you not know that your goalie is right there? I think he should be fined and suspended. He'd be out for the rest of the year if it wasn't his own player.

 

[JXC]

Here is when it happened in the world championships back in May. Funny thing is Surovy goes back and hits the goalpost again, kind of like Ballard did. Weird. This one looks worse, but I don't think Halak had to go to the hospital, so I think it ended up not being as bad as it looked.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0U2Vx_Ffjc&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - Tomas Surovy Hits Own Goalie, Jaroslav Halak in World Hockey Championship 2009[/ame]

 

[Mac]

Melrose said this was the stupidest thing he's ever seen in Hockey.

 

[Jagdaddy]

Melrose said this was the stupidest thing he's ever seen in Hockey.

He probably should check out his own mullet and reconsider . . .

 

[TheStoicPaisano]

Melrose said this was the stupidest thing he's ever seen in Hockey.

Personally, I like Ferraro's "that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen."

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDbEX666G3Y&feature=PlayList&p=4A0042137DC2F34F&index=6"]You should be embarrassed...[/ame]