Taylor Hall Shows Off Aftermath of Taking Skate to Face With Shot of Stitches, Black Eye (Photo)

by abournenesn

Jan 19, 2012

Taylor Hall, in just his second NHL season, knows a thing or two about being a professional athlete.

The first, is that it’s very important to wear a helmet during pregame warm-ups. The second, that chicks dig scars.

As seen in the video below, the sophomore sniper was warming up for the Oilers Tuesday night tilt with the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena when he slipped on a puck and collided with Ladislav Smid. As the two spun toward the corner, teammate Corey Potter attempted to leap over them but caught Hall in the forehead with his skate. The NHL’s first-overall selection in 2010 was rushed to the locker room and later received a beauty of a black eye as well as 30 stitches.

“It was really scary. I saw it ­happen,” captain Shawn Horcoff told the Vancouver Sun. “I saw him go down then I saw [Potter] jump. He actually kicked him on the way down.

“It didn’t look good.”

“I just turned the corner and I had two guys sliding at me. I just tried to get of the way but unfortunately, I came in contact with Hallsy’s head,” recalled Potter. “I didn’t really step on him. I tried to jump over him and kicked him.

“It’s a good thing he’s okay,” he added. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cut that bad that close before. It was pretty gross. I was pretty freaked out in the warm-up because I was worried.”

Hall didn’t practice on Wednesday and won’t play against the Blues on Thursday night. He has 15 goals and 16 assists in 31 games this season and has received strict orders from his mother to wear a helmet from now on, according to the National Post.

“We’ve had that discussion. Yes, he will be wearing his helmet,” said Hall’s mother Kim Strba. “I think he was thanking his lucky stars. He knows it could have been much worse. I’ve seen the video a couple of times on TV. It wasn’t easy to watch.

“I asked him if he was still good-looking,” she continued, “and he said, ‘Mom, I look like Frankenstein.'”

Does he? You be the judge:

Taylor Hall Shows Off Aftermath of Taking Skate to Face With Shot of Stitches, Black Eye (Photo)

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