Adam Burish jerked his hands to his throat, expecting to feel blood gushing out like a horror movie climax or one of the frightening scenes that have played out on NHL ice rinks.
Instead, wearing a white button-down shirt with no red stains, Burish laughed about the close call from a skate that scraped his throat in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the Red Wings. Only a thin pink line was visible beneath his scraggly playoff beard.
“Extra padding,” he said of the neck-saving scruff.
Had the skate been a few hairs closer, the potentially serious incident would have made the Blackhawks’ 5-2 loss seem meaningless.
In the second period at Joe Louis Arena, Blackhawks winger Ben Eager was upended against the boards. As he flipped, Burish saw the blade moving toward his neck but didn’t have much time or room to move completely out of the way.
“When it happened I was scared,” Burish said. “I wasn’t sure my head was still connected to my body. I just sat there and was like, ‘Oh man, am I lucky.’ “
Burish’s neck had a red smear of blood after the cut, but he required no stitches and continued to play.
Like anyone watching the replay as Burish grabbed his throat, memories of similar but more critical scenarios flooded to the mind, including Burish’s memory.
Most infamously, in 1989 Sabres goaltender Clint Malarchuk nearly died when his jugular vein was severed and he received 300 stitches after getting sliced by the St. Louis Blues’ Steve Tuttle. He returned to the ice four days after the event that sickened even teammates.
After Burish assured himself he was uninjured, he said he had no problem shaking off the scare. He figured someone else he knows had a harder time with it.
“It’s probably harder for my mom to shake if she was watching on TV than it was for me,” he said. “I didn’t check my phone. I’m sure she’s been calling.”
