Arace: Columbus Blue Jackets' Zach Werenski's injury is not thought to be serious. Whew.
Zach Werenski was part and parcel of the Blue Jackets’ premise for any success in 2023-24. Every preview predicated any improvement on “the addition of Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson” and “an improved defense” and “a healthy Zach Werenski.”
Thursday night, in the Blue Jackets’ season opener at Nationwide Arena, a sellout crowd of 18,614 sucked in a collective breath and then groaned together as Werenski writhed on the ice, face-down, unable to rise.
This was Werenski’s first game since Nov. 10, 2022, when he suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder after falling awkwardly into the boards. He missed 69 games last season. The season before that was also a short one for Werenski, who had surgery to repair a sports hernia in April, 2021. And before that, there were other shoulder injuries.
In the second period Thursday night, Philadelphia Flyers pest Garnet Hathaway got him. Werenski was behind the net and had just let go of a pass when Hathaway came in aiming for a body check. Or some kind of check. Hathaway led with his right knee and made contact with Werenski’s lower thigh, just above the right knee. Werenski stayed down more than a minute. Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins waved for the trainer.
Werenski had to be helped from the ice and went straight to the dressing room. He did not return.
The good news: The Blue Jackets said Werenski suffered a muscle contusion which, according to coach Pascal Vincent, is not considered a long-term injury.
Whew.
John Tortorella, when he coached the Blue Jackets, once described a part of Werenski anatomy as being “as big as the building” after Werenski took a Phil Kessel shot in the face during the second period of a playoff game and, after a doctors zippered up his right cheek, returned to the game. Remember that one?
Werenski was a 19-year-old rookie. It was Game 3 of a first-round playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Werenski scored a power-play goal in the first period. Late in second period, a shot by Kessel rode up under Werenski’s shield and opened a laceration the size of a garter snake under his right eye. As Werenski bled, and bled, on the ice, play continued and Evgeni Malkin scored to tie the game at 3-all. Werenski returned in the third period wearing a full shield. He could not play in overtime because his right eye was swollen shut. The Penguins won Game 3, won the series in five and went on to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Tortorella was again behind the bench – the visitors’ bench – Thursday night.
Asked about whether he had any reaction to seeing Werenski down on the ice, Tortorella said, “Wasn’t a penalty.”
Then, Tortorella gushed his admiration for Werenski, mentioned how he ran into Werenski in the morning, how Werenski probably planned it that way, said that Werenski is a “dynamite talent and an even better human being.” And so forth.
“Wasn’t a penalty,” Tortorella said again.
But it was a penalty. Hathaway led with his knee, which is something that is not taught in most hockey schools. The play was reviewed and was deemed not to be a major penalty. Hathaway was given a two-minute minor for kneeing.
The Flyers won 4-2 with two empty netters. Afterwards, a Flyers PR professional failed to locate Hathaway.
It was a chippy game. The Flyers were physical, which is in their (and their coach’s) DNA. The Jackets did not back down. There was much in the way of scrumming and dancing. Early in the second period, Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson got into it with Philly’s Travis Konecny. They were in the middle of a spirited scrum and they both drew roughing penalties. Gudbranson appeared to challenge the entire visitors’ bench before he headed off to the box.
Gudbranson described the Hathaway hit on Werenski with many salty adjectives, but the nouns he used were “dirty” and “stupid.”
Asked about his history with Hathaway, Gudbranson said, “I think you guys know about that.”
The Garnet loogie is still remembered.
In November 2019, when Gudbranson was with the Anaheim Ducks and Hathaway with the Washington Capitals, a heated brawl between the teams reached its bitter height when Gudbranson popped Hathaway with a rabbit punch and Hathaway responded by spitting in Gudbranson’s face.
Hathaway received a three-game suspension.
Was Hathaway’s hit on Werenski a major and a game, or a minor for kneeing, which he got, or “wasn’t a penalty?”
In any case, the Jackets, and Werenski, were fortunate in the grand scheme of things. For one thing, Hathaway didn’t spit on Werenski. For another, the first impression of the seriousness of the injury is “not long-term.” Whew. If you’ve been around the game long enough, you’ve seen filthy, knee-on-knee hits that lead to awful outcomes. Jackets fans can hope that Werenski’s ligaments are relatively intact, that his cartilage hasn’t been traumatized and that he won’t be on the shelf for too long.
This is the guy who put his foot in the revolving door of free-agent exodus, who made a testament to the Columbus, its fans and the Jackets’ front office. He is among the most talented and respected players in Jackets history
All of us, we just want to see him play.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: A chippy Blue Jackets-Flyers game is lowlighted by a knee-on-knee hit
