Ketih Ballard And Hockey’s Ten Worst Stick-Swinging Incidents

Tomas Vokoun’s solid play in net is about the only reason the Florida Panthers find themselves ahead of the lowly Leafs and Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference.  Vokoun’s efforts to keep this team out of the basement literally suffered a devastating blow on Monday night when Panthers’ defenseman Keith Ballard tried to use his stick to throw a mantrum on the goalpost.

While Ballard managed to destroy the stick, he also smoked his own goaltender in the head in what might be the scariest incident we’ve seen this season.

Vokoun was taken off the ice on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance, he walked away with a laceration of the ear but no serious damage.  Ballard likely feels pretty low right now, and rightfully so.  There’s no other way to describe his actions than idiotic.

Thankfully Vokoun will be okay.  So enjoy ten of the worst stick-swinging incidents the interwebs has to offer guilt free:

10.  Tomas Surovy Slashes Jaroslav Halak

Ballard should be thankful that he’s not the first guy to commit the bonehead act of slashing your own goalie.  Slovakian swinger Tomas Surovy was way ahead of his time:

9.  Ron Hextall

Ever notice how Ron Hextall never took a slash to the head from one of his teammates?  That’s because they saw what he did to guys on the other team:

8.  Rich Pilon

With a name like Pilon you’d think a guy might try another position other than defense.  No doubt Mario Lemieux must have made him look like an orange cone at some point, whatever it is… he’s pissed:

7.  Some Twat

These kids, they must see this shit on TV or something:

6.  Two Scholars

Here we have some US College (so it says) circa the shitty gear era.  Give it a second, this is why men shouldn’t wear cages:

5.  Minor League Melee Turns Ugly

This post-whistle skirmish gets violent.  Deep rooted mental issues at work here, Jesus, you’ve been warned:

4.  Sean Avery

What’s a list of hockey players acting like imbeciles if it doesn’t include Sean Avery?  Tim Thomas with the appropriate response following Avery’s love tap:

3.  Chris Simon

Ryan Hollweg isn’t much of a hockey player, but nobody deserves face full of lumber like the one administered here by Chris Simon:

2.  Marian Hossa/Bryan Berard

It was accidental on Hossa’s part, but nevertheless it was one of the ugliest on-ice incidents the NHL has ever seen.  Berard, despite a courageous effort, was never the same player after losing most of his vision in one eye.

1.  Marty McSorely

The NHL said goodbye forever to Marty McSorely after he knocked Donald Brashear out with a vicious chop to the head with his stick.