Buffalo Sabres' Jiri Kulich Injures Referee With Hard Accidental Shot
Photo credit: © Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
During last night's Sabres-Flyers game, Buffalo's Jiri Kulich took a shot that completely missed the net and went straight for the referee, injuring him quite badly.
The Buffalo Sabres closed out a trying season in peak fashion, downing the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 in the final game of the year.
But for more than the result, the night stood out, as it was the 900th win of Lindy Ruff's coaching career, an achievement as elusive as it is remarkable that puts him among the top bench coaches in the league.
Ruff is part of a select group to achieve that total from just five head coaches in NHL history, company maintained by Scotty Bowman (1,244), Joel Quenneville (969), Paul Maurice (916), and Barry Trotz (914).
Sabres forward Alex Tuch, who had a goal and an assist, talked about the team's commitment to letting Ruff achieve the milestone.
"It's good to get the last win there of the season, and to get 900 for him, I think it's really special," Tuch said. "I think it meant a lot to our group. I know he says it (doesn't), but I'm guessing it probably means a lot to him, too. That's no small feat there, and hopefully next year he keeps climbing up the leaderboard."
However, the rest of the night didn't go quite as smoothly as it could have despite all of these festivities surrounding Ruff.
The night took a turn for the worst as a referee was injured by an errant shot
In a strange and very unpleasant moment, Sabres player Jiri Kulich unleashed a wicked, errant shot that was completely off target and struck one of the referees with an unbelievable amount of force.
The referee was helped as he skated out of the area, and this cast a tacky cloud over what had otherwise been an evening of great fun.
Although Ruff's monumental moment was the well-deserved highlight of the day, the competition had also provided us with a harsh reminder of the uncertainties and episodic dangers of hockey.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 18 | 76 ANSWERS Buffalo Sabres' Jiri Kulich Injures Referee With Hard Accidental Shot Was this one of the worst missed shots you have ever seen? | ||
| Yes | 56 | 73.7 % |
| No | 20 | 26.3 % |
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