Penguins’ rookie knocks himself out while throwing huge hit in NHL debut

This ain’t the first impression I bet rookie defenseman John Ludvig wanted to make in his NHL debut. On Tuesday night as his Pittsburgh Penguins faced off against the Dallas Stars, Ludvig had to be helped off the ice after a big collision in the neutral zone.

It was a scary scene in which Ludwig attempted to deliver a huge hit on Stars’ Radek Faska only to be knocked out himself and looking to be out cold for at least a few seconds. Ludwig dropped to the ice and had to be helped off the ice by Penguins’ trainers and teammates.

Ludwig, who has only skated 5:29 before leaving the game, will be reevaluated.

The 23-year-old blue liner was added to the Penguins’ lineup when he was acquired via a waiver claim earlier in October.
While this is not the NHL debut he probably wanted for himself, we can only hope that he now focuses on his recovery and will be healthy before coming back to action.

On Wednesday, head coach Mike Sullivan gave an update on Ludwig, confirming the rookie blue liner had sustained a concussion on the play. He was absent from the Penguins' practice and will be reevaluated. This is what Sullivan shared on his defenseman's condition: 

“He’s been diagnosed with a concussion. We will see how that goes, I’m not sure I can give you a status other than that.

"He's continuing to be evaluated. At this point, that's all I can really give you from a status standpoint. It's a scary moment when you see a player like that. It appeared he almost got knocked out on the hit. We're hopeful he's going to be okay."

The bench boss also added: "I'm disappointed for him. He was so excited to play his first NHL game. I thought he was playing really well in that first part of the game there... our medical staff will do their very best to get him back in a timely fashion and we'll go from there."

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