Bruins’ Brendan Gaunce Stretchered Off After Brutal Open-Ice Hit In AHL Game

A scary moment went down in Friday night’s Laval Rocket-Providence Bruins game.

Bruins forward Brendan Gaunce was skating without the puck in the neutral zone and turned his body away from the benches. At the same time Rocket winger Michael McCarron was skating along the red line toward the Laval bench, and as Gaunce turned, McCarron collided with and absolutely leveled the 25-year-old.

Gaunce hit the ice and stayed down for a while, with team medical staff attending to him. While bleeding profusely, Gaunce tried to get up with some assistance but needed to go back down to the ice, which resulted in a stretcher being brought out. While getting medical attention Gaunce was vomiting into a towel.

You can watch the sequence here, though be warned it’s pretty graphic.

Providence coach Jay Leach said Gaunce would be considered week-to-week, according to Mark Divver. With the Boston Bruins currently dealing with a handful of injuries, Gaunce’s name was floated by Bruce Cassidy earlier Friday as a potential AHL call-up.