"Gruesome" Injury Suffered by Blackhawks Prospect

An ugly incident in the Chicago Blackhawks preseason game in Minneapolis Saturday night left forward prospect Sam Savoie "screaming in pain" after awkwardly crashing legs-first into the boards.  

Oh man, this does not look good for Sam Savoie. He was screaming in pain and is now being stretchered off the ice. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/JCskoUjYQW

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 1, 2023

The 19-year-old had to be taken off the ice by stretcher, clearly in a lot of pain, though he did give a thumbs-up to the crowd.  

According to Savoie's junior team, the Gatineau Olympiques, Savoie had urgent surgery on his femur (thigh bone) in Minnesota Sunday morning. 

“That’s tough. He’s a kid that even last year, I really, really like. Love the way he plays. Just a happy-go-lucky guy,” said Blackhawks teammate Tyler Johnson. “Anytime you see something like that it’s pretty gruesome. You never wish that on anybody. 

Chicago head coach Luke Richardson said today, “To me, it looked like Sam was kind of going to pre-hit [Wild defenseman Alex] Goligoski and I think Goligoski didn’t lay into him, he might have been a little scared of Sam going in there the way he skates. [So Goligoski] pulled off. And I think Sam was really leaning forward.”

Savoie, a third-round pick of the Hawks (81st overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft, brings a mix of scrappiness, speed and scoring. He notched 26 goals and 59 points in 60 games for the Olympiques last season. He was expected to return there for the 2023-24 season, though that will now have to wait for quite some time. 

Photo: Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports