The Montreal Canadiens are now not only down a game, but a key player. During last night’s game between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottowa Senators, center Lars Eller was taken off the ice in stretcher after being hit in the head by Eric Gryba. The hit happened midcourt after Eller’s teammate Raphael Diaz passed the puck to him. Gryba went after the puck and caught Eller in the head with his shoulder. The hit was very scary as Eller laid there motionless for quite sometime before inevitable having to be carted off the ice. Under Eller was a pool of blood that left the crowd speechless. As for Gryba he said he would never go after a player intentionally and his coach, Paul MacLean, went after Diaz’s bad pass instead. “(If I’m Eller), I’m really mad at player 61, whoever he is, because he passed me the puck in the middle of the rink when I wasn’t looking,” MacLean said. “That’s always been a dangerous place as far as I know. Ever since I’ve been playing this game, that’s a dangerous place to be — bad things happen. Eller was left with a concussion, facial lacerations, and dental fractures. Both teams wish Lars Eller a speedy recovery, but the Candiens will be without a guy who scored eight goals this season. It is such a tragedy when a player is seriously injured during a sporting event, but I do not see any malicious intent from Gryba.
