Bizarre Injury

zannalee02 · Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:11 am Post subject: Bizarre Injury

Ok, has anyone else ever had a shot hit them right on the fingertip?? When I was just starting out last year another goalie showed me how to hold my stick with my index finger down the paddle so I'd have more control. It worked for a while, then I got two shots to the fingertip in one hour, causing a huge blood blister. So I bought a better blocker and things went well for a while. Then last Friday I got another shot to fingertip. I dropped my blocker and grabbed my finger, and figured it was going to be another bad blister, but when I let go both hands were covered with blood and there was flesh poking out of my fingertip. So once I got it cleaned up it looked like it must have hit the end of my nail; my cuticles were split, the nail is bruised, and there's a nice gash where my whole fingertip apparently split open. The nurse who supervises me at work says it doesn't need stitches, but it's going to take a while to heal.

Needless to say, I'm not putting my finger down the paddle anymore, and I taped down some of the protective pieces of my blocker to protect it better while it heals. It's much better now, but I have to ask; does this stuff happen to anyone else? Confused

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Arthriticbutterflystyle · Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:19 am Post subject:

I've taken quite a few odd injuries (I once got a puck in the back of my thigh even though I was facing the point) including a few hits on the finger. Never by a puck though...always by sticks and once by a skate. I have held the stick with my pointer finger on the paddle for the better part of 11 years now and I've never once had a shot hit me there. There has to be something with your equipment or movements that's causing that.

itechwarrior · Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:35 am Post subject:

Might want to practice using a different part of your stick to stop the shots. Wink

It can be done, if you're trying to make a blocker save, and you're missing and it's hitting your stick right below the blocker, that's an issue. Maybe focus really on how you're making a blocker save, cause your timing might be off.

I don't know if this is the answer, it just came to mind. I could be completely wrong.

puckstopper135 · Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:09 am Post subject:

I've always held my finger that way and have yet to take a shot off it Confused

Which you think would happen more often, since I tend to go paddle-down a lot on scrambles and anything in tight.

Arthriticbutterflystyle · Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 4:10 am Post subject:

Right, along the lines of what PS said...I'm paddle down a lot because I spend a lot of time in the VH since the puck spends more time behind the net than in front of it. I've yet to take a puck to my finger.

TheAntiw00t · Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 7:22 pm Post subject:

I've taken a few off the finger like that and it seems that usually the only way you can get hit that way is if the paddle is near flat on the ice and isn't in the standard 90 degrees to the ice position. I'm glad that it didn't result in an injury though but it's always a possibility.
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Slinky · Minors Joined: 17 Feb 2009 Posts: 471 Location: Canton, GA

that's the proper way to hold your stick, but never had that problem. I have had it happen on my toe though, last shot of warmups was a slapshot off my big toe and knocked the toenail clean off, had to play the whole game with a bloody foot and a toenail bouncing around in my skate...

only other particularly bizarre injury was a slapshot i took off the shoulder that pinched a nerve. I lost feeling in my right arm for 2 or 3 days...

had a friend take a shot off the elbow, to this day if he bangs his elbow on something he has no strength in his right hand. he'll drop whatever he's holding.
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Arthriticbutterflystyle · Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 11:30 pm Post subject:

Slinky · Minors Joined: 17 Feb 2009 Posts: 471 Location: Canton, GA

it was funny. we both worked at a rink, and if someone so much as bumped him, he'd drop skates on his food. or one time dropped a pizza on a customer when her son nudged his elbow.

i watched him try to explain the entire thing to her... she was incredulous to say the least.
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Because it hurts so good.

zannalee02 · Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:26 am Post subject:

LOL on the dropping things, OUCH on the toe!

Thanks for the replies. There has to be something I'm doing wrong-the first time (when I got the blister) I was down in the butterfly and my stick was down at a pretty flat angle, so that one probably rode up the stick. The second time I was up in my stance, stick angled only slightly back toward me, and I know it didn't hit any part of the stick first.

Itechwarrior, I think you just might have hit on the answer. I've noticed a lot going in around that area or hitting me where I don't expect it when trying to make blocker saves. As I think about it, a lot of the saves I intend to make with the blocker hit the shaft or paddle instead.

I really wish I could upload the videos my friend took last fall-unfortunately she and her camera have moved away, and the files I can copy from the mini-discs can't be edited with software unless you can connect the camera to the computer, and I can't convert them to a usable format. I'd love to have you all critique me and help me figure out what to do differently!

The finger is healing-there is still a lot of bruising and swelling, but some tough skin has grown over the wound and I can put enough pressure on it to type and play musical instruments again. Very Happy

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Slinky · Minors Joined: 17 Feb 2009 Posts: 471 Location: Canton, GA

was it a shot straight off the finger tip, or deflected off your stick or something else? and can you explain your positioning a little more?

When you said your stick was flat, you mean the blade, with your blocker to your side, or the paddle was flat with your blocker on the ice?

When you were in your stance, your stick was angled slightly back toward you?

At the very least, a picture of how you were positioned in each instance would help a lot.
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Because it hurts so good.

zannalee02 · Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 4:21 am Post subject:

I thought it was straight off the finger, but my brother (who took the shot) says from his perspective it hit the paddle less than an inch below the blocker and the next thing he saw was my blocker flying off.

Sorry for the lack of clarity.

The first instance was during a goalie lesson, the coach told me to keep the stick blade on the ice when I drop so I keep my 5-hole covered. This pic is close to what he wanted me to do, but I did it incorrectly when my finger got hit-I had the paddle at probably a 30-35 degree angle, so much flatter than this shows.

The second instance-what I mean about my normal stance is that the blade is a little in front of my pads and the butt end is parallel to my chin. It's probably no less than an 80 degree angle. I don't have a good pic from the front or blocker side, but does this clarify anything?

Feel free to offer constructive criticism on my stance-I've only been playing for a year and the goalie lesson was the only real instruction I've had.
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"It's never good when you're tending goal and your number is facing out." - Daryl Reaugh

Slinky · Minors Joined: 17 Feb 2009 Posts: 471 Location: Canton, GA

I can't really figure out what happened to you, except an unlucky bounce off the stick... s**t happens. I was wondering if you had your stick at an angle so your fingers were exposed, but that doesnt seem to be the case.

As for your stance... pick you glove up! Either raise the glove, or use the fingertips up technique. You look like you feel kind of awkward in your stance too... see if you can make it feel more natural to you. Finally, I can't tell very well in the bfly picture, but depending on where the shot came from, I'd be a little farther out of my net. It looks like it might be coming off that orange stick blade, in which case, good positioning.
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Because it hurts so good.

zannalee02 · Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:04 am Post subject:

Yeah, I figure weird things are going to happen to hockey players, especially goalies, but the fact that the same thing happened more than once in less than a year weirds me out. Confused

Thanks for the advice, slinky. The glove issue is a lot better now-I've been concentrating on keeping it up and facing front, and surprisingly enough I've been making glove saves. Shocked

I do play too deep in the crease as a general rule, and I feel awkward at times, so you're right on that, too.

I'm able to leave my finger uncovered now, but it's still pretty swollen. I was worried about nerve damage, but the feeling seems to be coming back in stages.
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"It's never good when you're tending goal and your number is facing out." - Daryl Reaugh

zannalee02 · Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 1:29 am Post subject:

Darn it. Turns out the end of my finger was fractured, but there's nothing my doctor can do for it this late. Hasn't been a huge problem in games, but the swelling and soreness is annoying. Oh well, all part of the game!
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"It's never good when you're tending goal and your number is facing out." - Daryl Reaugh