Goaltenders in the NHL wear a lot of protective equipment, but sometimes even the bulkiest of pads aren’t enough to protect the family jewels. New Jersey Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid found this out the hard way when Chris Kunitz was trying to stuff in a loose puck which was sitting between Kinkaid’s legs.
Warning – Men may cringe watching this video.
(Shudder)
It’s actually pretty amazing that Kinkaid didn’t need more time to recover after taking what is the sharpest point of a hockey stick right where it counts. That looks so incredibly painful.
Some may defend Kunitz and say that he was just digging for the puck, but there’s an unwritten rule (and some written rules) that say you shouldn’t spear the opposing goaltender between his legs. Kunitz was falling down when he made the heaviest contact on Kinkaid, but he still should have had better control over his stick and what he was doing.
The best summary of this sequence of events comes near the end of the video after the Pittsburgh broadcast watched a replay of what transpired.
“There goes the stick! And wow.”
That “wow” is a feeling of pain and uneasiness that every man feels when watching another man get rocked in that kind of sensitive area.
Goalie equipment is protective, but it’d take a whole lot more to protect from a hit like that.
