Injured Edmonton Oilers left winger Evander Kane spoke to media on Friday, detailing Tuesday’s game in Tampa Bay when his wrist was cut by a skate blade.
“I kind of got taken down there. I just remember feeling something hit my wrist and then I immediately saw blood shoot up, so I put my hand over my glove,” he said.
“When I looked down, I could see what was going on and I knew I was in some trouble, and needed some help immediately. I was just trying to get off the ice as quick as I could.
“I’d never seen that much blood before,” Kane said. “First I’m thinking: ‘I don’t want to bleed out here.'”
When he got to the training room, it didn’t even register that the team doctor was there with him.
“I was yelling at Doc Robinson: ‘Where’s the doctor?’ and he was like: ‘I’m right here.’ And I’m like: ‘Oh yeah, that’s right.’ I wasn’t really thinking 100 per cent.
“It was pretty painful. They couldn’t really give me anything initially. So for the first 20 minutes, it wasn’t great. Once I got to the ambulance, and to the hospital for the surgery, it was a little easier.”
He said the training staff grabbed his phone and kept his family updated.
“I cut pretty much everything down to the bone,” Kane explained.
“I got really lucky that they were able to reattach everything. They had to take some vein from up a different part of my arm, to help reattach the artery. I got really lucky. Unlucky and then lucky.
“Thankful that I should have a full recovery.”
Kane is expected to be out three to four months.
“Hopefully things heal… (I’ll) come back once everything is 100 per cent, but try to make that as soon as possible.
“I’m hoping, at least initially, while I can’t do much, I can maybe be around the team as much as I can. That will definitely be helpful as the recovery process happens.”
He’s scheduled to see a doctor again on Wednesday.
Kane is fifth among Oilers skaters in point production, with five goals and eight assists in 14 games this season.