While trying to check a Golden Knights player along the boards, Doughty lost his balance and his left foot went hard into the boards, bending in a horrifying way. Doughty was on the ice not able to move the ankle, and waited to be helped off the ice by his teammates. The Kings bench and even the Golden Knights were eerily silent as Doughty was helped off the ice, clearly not in good shape.
Shortly afterwards, the Los Angeles Kings made a statement announcing that Doughty would not be returning to the game tonight. It's always brutal to see a player suffer a grisly injury like this when a limb bends a way it shouldn't.
Anytime an injury like this occurs, the immediate concern is that the player has broken a bone or sustained serious structural damage. The Kings could lose Doughty for months this upcoming season, and already a fringe playoff team, they could sorely miss him this year.
Hopefully the news for Doughty upon further medical evaluation doesn't bring the worst case scenario. He's a fierce rival of the Edmonton Oilers, but Doughty is a premier defender in the NHL and a classy person. Now 34 years old, Doughty has played his entire 1177 game career with the Kings, posting 669 total points. He's under contract for the next three seasons at $11M. We wish the best to Doughty in his recovery from this terrible looking injury.
Do you think the Los Angeles Kings could make the playoffs without Drew Doughty? Let us know in the poll below.
POLL | ||
25 SEPTEMBRE | 70 ANSWERS Drew Doughty helped off the ice after grisly fall into the boards Will the Kings make the playoffs if Doughty doesn't play this year? | ||
Yes | 10 | 14.3 % |
No | 60 | 85.7 % |
See Results | 0 | 0 % |
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