Bubble Boy

[Davey Boy 2.0]

Dumbasses:

Eye injury scares Leafs

No estimate on how long Sundin will be missing

Rookie on blue line decides to discard his visor

KEN CAMPBELL

SPORTS REPORTER

Toronto Star

It appears as though Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin has dodged a bullet for the second time in his career when it comes to an eye injury.

The injury Sundin suffered last night in the Maple Leafs' 3-2 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators when he was hit near the eye by a deflected puck was not enough to keep him in hospital overnight, but it could be enough to keep him out of the lineup for a spell.

"The eyeball itself is fine," Leafs coach Pat Quinn said after the game at the Air Canada Centre. "There's damage to the surrounding areas, but we're not able to report if it's serious damage.

"They tried to do an MRI on him ... but the eyeball has been declared okay.

"There may be a little blood in the area leaking into the eye socket. I don't know how to predict what the time frame is for him to be back."

"That wasn't part of the prognosis," Leafs GM John Ferguson said later when asked whether Sundin's injury was career threatening. "But we'll take another look (today) and go from there."

Sundin was hit with a puck that was believed to have been shot by teammate Darcy Tucker at 7:01 of the first period and fell to his knees with his hands covering his face.

He was transported to hospital, but was later released.

Teammate Tie Domi was on the ice at the time and spoke to Sundin after the incident and said he was visibly affected by the injury.

"He was shaken up by it, no question," Domi said of Sundin. "A lot of us were there when it happened to Bryan Berard and I think that was going through Mats' mind."

Domi is speaking of when Berard, then a promising defenceman with the Leafs, lost his eye in a game against the Senators in March of 1999. Even though ex-Senator Marian Hossa struck Berard clearly on the follow-through of a shot, Quinn still believes Hossa's actions were intentional.

Tucker was concerned about the Leafs captain. "I don't feel too good right now about seeing something like that," he said.

Adding to the Leafs' initial worries was the fact that Sundin was kicking his legs and appeared to be in serious danger initially after it happened. That's a concern because Sundin has forged a reputation during his career for durability and a high pain threshold. To see him react like that was concerning to his teammates.

The Leafs have had a lengthy history of close calls with eye injuries since the Berard incident.

Less than a year later, Sundin received 15 stitches near his eye when he was struck by an errant puck. Garry Valk missed the last part of the 2001-02 season after taking Darcy Tucker's stick in the eye in practice and both Tucker and Owen Nolan needed retina surgery in 2003-04 because of eye injuries.

But none of that was enough to deter Maple Leafs rookie defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo from ditching his visor in time for last night's regular-season opener.

Colaiacovo, who has suffered some of the most bizarre and debilitating injuries imaginable in two years as a pro, earned the nickname "Bubble Boy" from his teammates last year because of his penchant for getting injured. But even after seeing what happened to Sundin, Colaiacovo said he'll continue to play without the protection.

"You never want to think about something like that happening," he said. "But, no, I'm not going to change my mind."

Sundin wore a visor when he played with the Quebec Nordiques, but he has largely eschewed using any eye protection as a Leaf. He has worn a visor off and on with the Leafs, but vowed even after his previous eye injury that he would only wear the protection until his eye healed.