Roberts details ‘scary’ skate blade cut during MJHL game

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This article was published 11/11/2022 (995 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Steinbach Pistons player had to be rushed to hospital during their game against the Winkler Flyers Nov. 2, after receiving a skate blade cut to his side.

Landon Roberts recalls engaging in a battle with a Winkler defender while chasing a rebound to the corner during his second shift of the game, before getting tangled up and falling to the ice in a heap alongside his opponent.

“I pushed off him, he fell, and I fell with him,” Roberts said while his teammates practiced in Steinbach a couple days later.

“When I landed, I must have landed right on his blade, because it got me right in the ribs.”

After arriving at the hospital in Winkler, Roberts was quickly brought in for treatment after medical personal saw the extent of the damage. He needed over a dozen stitches inside and outside the wound, which is in a v-shape.

“I got up and I felt it was burning a little bit,” Roberts recalled.

“I was still hoping we were going to get a goal, so I took my glove off to get a quick check of what I was feeling, and when I brought my hand out I saw it was covered in blood. I thought I should probably get off the ice”

In the meantime, the Flyers had began to break out the other way.

“I was worried about changing, I didn’t want to change on the back-check, but I was like ‘I should probably get off the ice still,’” he said, laughing.

“I got off the ice and lifted my jersey up right away, and some of the guys on the bench had some colourful words, so I knew it wasn’t great.”

Roberts then headed off the bench, and began removing equipment to allow the training staff to get a better look at the damage. Pistons head trainer Jeff Eidse was able to get some gauze tight around the cut to slow the bleeding before Roberts left for the hospital.

Luckily for the Souris-born player, he has family in the Winkler area, so his aunt was able to give him a ride to the hospital.

“They fixed me up pretty quick, I was only there for around an hour,” Roberts said.

“I made it back for the majority of the third period.”

Despite playing a man down, the Pistons were able to come out with a 4-1 victory.

This isn’t the first time Roberts has been cut by a skate blade.

“I have one on my wrist from last year, a couple on my legs just from guys flying around when you hit them, but this one was definitely the biggest and the scariest in terms of how severe it was,” he said, adding most of the time equipment helps blunt any cuts.

“It must have just missed my shoulder pads, it sliced right through my jersey.”

Roberts said he’s hoping to be back on the ice after a couple weeks, and is hoping to be cleared to do some weight-lifting and light exercise to keep in shape while he recovers.

The 2002-born forward started the season with the Swift Current Broncos in the Western Hockey League, and is growing into his role with the Pistons. Roberts has also played for the Tri-City Americans and Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL, appearing in over 120 games in the league.

The injury comes at a bad time for Roberts, who was coming off his best game in a Pistons jersey in Winkler. The game before, he had two goals and an assist in Steinbach’s 5-4 overtime victory against the Winnipeg Blues.