More Caps chime in on Quintin Laing injury
By: Brian McNally
Examiner Staff Writer
11/18/09 3:42 PM EST
Got some more reaction from Quintin Laing's teammates on the broken jaw he suffered during Tuesday night's 4-2 win over the Rangers. Laing went down to block a shot by New York defenseman Michal Rozsival - well, because that's what Laing does. I wrote about this in detail in Tuesday night's game story. But needless to say, Laing is on this team to make plays like that. Not blocking shots isn't an option for him if he wants to stay in the NHL. And he does.
"He’s not the most skilled guy, but he’ll do anything it takes to get the puck," said teammate Mike Green.
"He’s never gonna score you 40. But he’s instrumental in what our team does," added coach Bruce Boudreau.
Green was amazed that after the game Laing was conducting business as if nothing had happened - talking calmly with the equipment managers as best he could even though he knew he was headed for the hospital and surgery. The left side of Laing's face was a swollen mess. Team captain Chris Clark - no stranger to gruesome injuries himself - couldn't watch as Laing was helped off the ice. Clark had his palate bone smashed and two front teeth knocked out when he took a puck to the mouth in a game against Boston in November of 2006. Clark, incredibly, finished his shift. A year later in an October game against Vancouver, the top of Clark's ear was severed by an Alex Ovechkin slap shot. This is not a man who scares easily.
"Yeah, I went through something like that and I couldn’t even look," Clark said of Laing's injury. "I didn’t see it happen because I was doing something with my stick. Then I saw him down and I asked. I didn’t want to take a peek or see what he looked like. It kind of bothers me when I see things like that."
Laing, of course, has had a rough nine months. He suffered a ruptured spleen during his lone NHL game last season - an injury that could have been life-threatening if not diagnosed immediately after that March 19 game vs. Tampa Bay. He also suffered swine flu and missed three games earlier this year. Laing is expected to miss four-to-six weeks, according to team officials. I'll let Clark finish his thought.
"He plays the game with somebody else’s body. It’s amazing. But teams need guys like [Laing] and teams with guys like him win games and win championships because they put their bodies on the line. He’s unbelievable. Credit to him – he knows how to block shots. He knows how to do it right. Most of the time he doesn’t feel it. Once in a while those pucks slip by where obviously it’s in between the shin or like last night where he got it. But he’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever played with."
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