We all know how physical the game of hockey can be. This week three National Hockey League franchises announced a major injury to a player on their roster. Let’s take a look at who these players are and how they got injured.
Jake Neighbours
The Calgary native injured his right leg on Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings and is out for the next five months. The left winger began the season on the third line, and later moved up to the Blues’ first line. This is a huge blow to the Blues’s organization because Neighbours was very productive this season. That is because he had six goals in eight games. Neighbours also had one assist, seven points, was a -4 with one game-winning goal, 12 shots on goal, one faceoff win, five blocked shots, 20 hits, and four giveaways.
Neighbours’s game-winning goal came on October 11 in a 4-2 Blues win over the Calgary Flames. He scored from defensemen Colton Parayko of St. Albert, Alberta and Cam Fowler.
Brett Pesce
Pesce of Tarrytown, New York is in his second season with the New Jersey Devils after nine seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes. He had an upper body injury from blocking shot in a 4-3 Devils win over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday, and is expected to be out one month. This season, Pesce had three assists for three points in nine games. He was a +3 with two penalty minutes, eight shots on goal, 24 blocked shots, four hits, two takeaways, and four giveaways.
Jordan Harris
Harris broke his ankle and needed surgery to fix the ailment. He suffered the injury on October 22 in a 4-3 Bruins loss to the Florida Panthers on October 21 and is projected to be out two months. Like Pesce, Harris is an American born defenseman as he is from Haverhill, Massachusetts. He signed a one-year contract worth $825,000 on Canada Day this past July.
In 2024-25, Harris had one goal and one assist for two points. He had nine shots on goal, three blocked shots, four hits, one takeaway, and five giveaways.
Harris’s assist came in a 3-1 Bruins win over the Buffalo Sabres on October 11 in a battle of the B’s. He helped set up Pavel Zacha of Brno, Czech Republic to open the scoring with four minutes and 12 seconds left in the first period. Harris saw regular playing time this season due to an injury by Hampus Lindholm.
