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Heward Treated for Nasty Gash
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This time it was much more serious, but Heward considers himself a lucky man. Had Modano's skate hit him a half-inch higher, he might have lost his eye. If the blade had penetrated a bit deeper, he might not be able to blink. A smidge lower and he might not be able to smile.
"It could have cut things that are essential to everyday life," Heward said.
Modano called Heward yesterday to express his concern. Although Heward acknowledged that it was accidental, he was still wondering yesterday why Modano lifted his skate so high.
The Stars veteran was facing the boards and battling rookie Mike Green for the puck when he suddenly spun around, lifting his leg into the air. His skate collided with an approaching Heward with 4 minutes 43 seconds remaining in the Capitals' 4-3 victory.
"I don't know," said Heward, who visited with his teammates yesterday morning before practice. "I'm 6-2, and was hunched over to about six feet, and his skate came up six feet up in the air and hit me in the face. I don't know how that happened."
It was the second scary moment for the Capitals in recent weeks. On Nov. 15, team captain Chris Clark lost three teeth and suffered a crushed palate bone when he was hit in the mouth by a puck. He still is playing with a protective face mask.
"It's a lot better than anybody thought," Clark said of Heward. "He got lucky. Hopefully we're done with bad luck."
Heward said he could return to practice on Monday, and plans to do so with a visor -- something he has not worn since his days in junior hockey. But he won't commit to making the visor a permanent fixture on his helmet.
"I hope I get used to it enough to keep it on," Heward said. "I know that even though this has happened to me, and as crazy as it sounds, it's not something I'm going to consider permanent. I'm going to assess how it feels on my face and go from there."
