A fractured larynx is no joke. Just ask Malcolm Subban.
Subban took a puck to the throat during warmups before the Providence Bruins’ Feb. 6 game against the Portland Pirates and immediately assumed it wasn’t a big deal. The Bruins goaltending prospect ended up staying in the hospital for five days for a scary neck injury that derailed his 2015-16 AHL season and left him temporarily unable to communicate with others except for via text.
“I honestly thought I just got hit, it was just swollen and I was going to have to come back and back up on the bench and be freezing cold,” Subban told reporters Tuesday at Bruins development camp. “That’s what I thought was going to happen. I didn’t think anything serious happened, to be honest.”
Subban initially tried to drink water and indicate he was fine upon being drilled in the throat, but it soon became clear the issue was more serious than the young netminder believed. The next thing Subban knew, he was waking up with tubes down his throat.
“It was pretty crazy. I was pretty drugged up at the hospital, so I don’t remember much of it,” Subban told reporters. “It’s been a pretty long road back with plenty of off-ice work before I got on the ice. I feel pretty good right now. Obviously, it’s the summer and I’m trying out new gear and stuff. I’m just working on getting ready for training camp.”
Among Subban’s revamped goalie gear is a new neck guard, which should prevent anything from happening to the area repaired by surgery and, in turn, perhaps give the 22-year-old some additional peace of mind between the pipes.
“I’ve been hit in the neck before. I have all the gear on now, the protection and stuff. I’ve gotten used to it,” Subban said. “Honestly, I feel like a tank. I’m not even worried at all about getting hit again.”
Now, the tank must figure out a way to crack the Bruins’ roster with recently signed Anton Khudobin joining Tuukka Rask on the Bruins’ goaltending depth chart.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
