Scary scene: KHL player suffers head injury after blocking shot with face

KHL defenseman Nikolai Stasenko suffered what the league called a “traumatic brain injury” after blocking a shot with his face. Stasenko, 28, needed to be stretchered off the ice and was ruled out of action for at least four months.

At some point, it might be worth askingwhether or not the KHL is cursed because the league can’t escape the scary scenes.

Monday, video surfaced of an incredibly frightening incident in which veteran Vitaly Sitnikov had his throat cut by a skate, and there’s another scary scene coming out of the primarily Russian league Tuesday, as Belarussian defenseman Nikolai Stasenko, who plays for Severstal, took a slapshot to the face while attempting to lay down to block an attempt by Sibir’s Sergei Shumakov.

If that’s not scary enough, Stasenko appears to go completely limp for a brief moment following the shot block before being attended to be the medical teams at the game. He couldn’t leave the ice under his own power and had to be taken from the ice on a stretcher:

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYorr8Clkbk[/embed]

While there’s some relief in that Stasenko was able to wave as he was being taken off the ice, the diagnosis isn’t good.

According to the KHL, Stasenko suffered a “traumatic brain injury.” In a release by Severstal, it was announced that Stasenko won’t be able to return to full practice for at least four months, but he was in stable condition and did not have any complications after being taken from the ice. For at least the next three weeks, Stasenko will be required to rest.

Stasenko, 28, has played in the KHL for the past seven seasons. In his KHL career, he has played 254 games and notched six goals and 26 points. He represented Belarus at the 2010 Olympics and has appeared in the past five World Championships for his home country.