On November 14th, playing against the Dallas Stars, Juuso Valimaki, a Finnish defenseman for the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, suffered an injury that most hockey players fear. A 93 MPH slapshot struck him square in the face, undeflected, at the beginning of the third period.
This tweet from Bass Pigskin Journal shows the moment in the game when the injury to Juuso Valimaki occurred. (Warning: Graphic content).
Valimaki taking the slapper on the face. Brutal. Bounces up and heads straight for the room. Hockey players are just built different. pic.twitter.com/0d3s2nKxRz
A gruesome moment to be sure, but one that does occasionally happen in hockey games. It was what happened after the injury that has the NHL and NHLPA opening an investigation.
Sources: NHL and NHLPA investigating a gap in protocol that led to #Yotes defenseman Juuso Valimaki lingering without care for hours in a Dallas hospital, after a severe facial injury that ultimately required 55 stitches to stop internal bleeding.
NHL Investigating Treatment of Juuso Valimaki Injury
Valimaki was immediately rushed off the ice and taken to a local Dallas hospital, where he was given what some are calling very questionable treatment. He received a CT scan upon his arrival but then was forced to wait for several hours in the hospital, with a fracture to his face, an open hole in his mouth, and significant internal bleeding.
Reportedly, the hospital even told Valimaki that they might not be able to provide surgical treatment for his injury for two days, and advised him to go back to his hotel and return to the hospital in the morning. Daily Faceoff has more details about the incident.
Valimaki was at the hospital with his wife and a Coyotes team employee, who refused to let him leave. Eventually, at around 2 a.m., doctors administered 55 stitches to close his wound. The following afternoon, he received the surgery needed to set the fracture in his face. Later, doctors told Valimaki that, had he gone back to his hotel, there was a significant risk that he could have asphyxiated from the blood in his mouth and died.
“We can confirm that the NHL and NHLPA are jointly investigating this matter,” an NHLPA spokesperson told Daily Faceoff. The NHL did not offer comment on the incident. Because this story focuses on Valimaki’s private medical care, sources with direct knowledge were granted anonymity by Daily Faceoff to discuss the details involved.
Sources: #Yotes' Juuso Valimaki left at Dallas hospital without immediate care, 'unable to function' for hours after severe facial injury with internal bleeding following puck in face Nov. 14
Remarkably, Valimaki returned to play – wearing a full face shield, of course – only two weeks after the incident. As the saying goes, “Hockey players are just built different.”
“My eyes, my nose, my big jaw, my throat, everything is fine,” Valimaki told PHNX Sports. “Realistically, it could have been so much worse, so I think that’s kind of been the perspective that I’ve taken: ‘I’m lucky that I’m playing again after two weeks.’”
Sources: NHL, NHLPA investigating gap in protocol after #Yotes' Juuso Valimaki was left in Dallas hospital without immediate care following severe facial injury requiring 55 stitches.
Valimaki entered the NHL as the 16th overall pick of the Calgary Flames in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. In 2022, the Phoenix Coyotes claimed him off waivers. He has played for that franchise for the past two seasons.
Over his NHL career, the defenseman has scored seven goals and recorded 49 assists.
