Brendan Smith transported to hospital after taking a puck to the head.

We had a very scary incident in the National Hockey League on Sunday, and it sounds like things might actually be a little more serious than they originally looked after things had fully played out on the ice.

During Sunday's game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins, Hurricanes defenseman Brendan Smith was injured when a shot from Penguins forward Danton Heinen struck the veteran defenseman right in the side of the head. Thankfully it looks as though Smith's helmet took the brunt of the impact and spared him from an even more severe injury, but nonetheless Smith was noticeably shaken up on the play.

The 33 year old blue liner stayed down on the ice for what felt like a significant length of time and even after the trainer ran out onto the ice to render him aid you could see him squirming in pain as he lay there. Smith was, understandably, clutching at his head but it was the rest of his body that told the story of just how much pain he was in.

Somehow though Smith was able to get up under his own power and although he appeared to be very unsteady on his skates he managed to leave the ice on his feet. I just wanna take a moment here to point out just how unbelievably tough Brendan Smith has to be to do something like this, especially considering the news that would follow his departure from the game.

The Hurricanes have now announced that Smith was transported to hospital, specifically the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, for evaluation and imaging so it sounds like there were some concerns about his health after he went back into the locker room. It sounds like he's going to be ok, relatively speaking, as the Hurricanes have reported that he has been cleared to travel with the team to Philadelphia where he will continue to be monitored by the Hurricanes medical staff.

If you haven't seen the incident, you can do so in the short replay shown in the video below.