Edmonton Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard knocked cold at World Championships

The biggest fear about having Edmonton Oilers play in the World Championships came true Thursday morning when Evan Bouchard got knocked cold and had to be helped off the ice.

In a disturbing scene in the quarterfinal game in Switzerland, the Oilers defenceman appeared to have suffered a concussion and did not return to the Canada-USA game after being elbowed in the head by Ryan Lindgren of the Seattle Kraken. It seems unlikely that he will play again in the tournament.

Bouchard didn’t see the hit coming, hit his head hard on the ice and then slid on his back until he came to a stop in the corner, where he lay motionless. Trainers from the Canadian side rushed onto the ice immediately and eventually helped him into the dressing room.

Lindren was ejected from the game. Nobody on the Canadian team did anything to Lindgren in response.

This is a tough blow for Bouchard — once a player suffers a significant head injury, he becomes more susceptible to them in the future. Many players’ careers have been shortened by concussion issues.

It’s also frustrating because the World Championships are pretty much a working holiday for NHL players — a fun tournament in a scenic venue that nobody takes especially seriously. To get knocked unconscious by a cheap shot is brutal.

He was having a fantastic tournament, putting up a goal and five assists and sitting plus-14 in seven games for the Canadians, a continuation of the kind of offence he posted last season with the Oilers.

There had been reports that Bouchard also suffered a concussion in Edmonton’s playoff series with the Anaheim Ducks, and while reports of an actual concussion turned out to be false, he did take a hard head shot in the series. Two in a span of a month is quite concerning.

You can bet the Oilers will be circling the calendars when the NHL schedule comes out, waiting for Edmonton’s first game against the Kraken, when the true discipline for this needs to be meted out.

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com

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