sports injuries: can a skate blade really cut open a wrist?

kane was knocked down three minutes into the second period during a battle with philippe myers of tampa bay lightning. tampa’s pat maroon then came into the play to fight for the puck when his skate appeared to slide over kane’s wrist.

“first and foremost, everyone on our team, everyone in our organization are thinking about evander kane,” oilers coach jay woodcroft said . “when an accident like that happens on the ice, that’s where our first thought is. it’s never fun to see one of your teammates in that kind of position.”

kane has since been seen at the rink where he spoke with media with his arm in bandages and a sling . kane told reporters that when the injury occurred, he only felt something hit his wrist — and then saw the blood on the ice.

“i had an artery sliced open, tendons sliced open, nerves sliced open,” kane said . “i’d say the first twenty minutes after getting to the room was definitely the most painful because they couldn’t give me any medication, but once i got through that portion of that process things became a little easier.”

this is kane’s second season with the oilers after a messy exit from the san jose sharks in 2021 involving several factors such as a fake covid vaccine document , potential betting fraud , allegations of domestic abuse , and almost $27 million in various debts .

why do ligaments in the wrist take so long to heal?

ligaments in the wrist connect the bones between the forearm and the hand, with several other ligaments connecting the wrist bones to each other . ligaments are essentially like rubber bands within the body that support joints and limit how far they can move . support for the wrist are provided by the ulnocarpal and radioulnar ligaments, while the scapholunate interosseous and lunotriquetral interosseous add stability . various other ligaments provide support and stability to a different part of the wrist, forearm, and hand.

for a standard torn ligament, there will be swelling, bruising, limited mobility, and limited ability to hold weight with that part of the body . symptoms only get worse over time instead of healing.

what happens in ligament/tendon surgery?

surgery for torn ligaments will likely involve placement of a graft to replace the torn ligament , with metal pins possibly being needed to aid the graft’s supports. the graft is usually sourced from the tendon in the same wrist, however, it is unclear if this was the case for kane’s injury as tendons may also have been damaged.