Urho Vaakanainen was released from the hospital Friday, the same night he was taken from the ice on a stretcher during the Anaheim Ducks’ preseason game against the San Jose Sharks at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
The 23-year-old defenseman was injured at 9:46 of the first period when he crashed awkwardly into the boards behind San Jose’s net. The collision came right after he set up Derek Grant for the first goal in Anaheim’s 4-1 win.
The Ducks said Sunday that Vaakanainen and forward Trevor Zegraswho sustained an upper-body injury during a 3-1 preseason win against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday, continues to improve.
“[Vaakanainen] was here this morning,” coach Dallas Eakins said after practice. “I had a chat with him just before I was running out for practice. Both very encouraging in different ways.”
As Vaakanainen was being taken off the ice, the entire Ducks team was on the ice to support him. Anaheim later tweeted that Vaakanainen was taken to UCI Medical Center for further evaluation and that he was alert and had full movement in his extremities.
“When something like this happens, I don’t even want to talk about him on the ice,” Ducks forward Troy Terry said. “It’s a human being that we all care for. … He’s a great hockey player, people know that, but he’s just a better person, and it’s hard for us to see that. We’ve all been told that he’s doing better. … It’s good to hear, and he does mean a lot to everyone here.”
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