Roman Polak is the toughest player in the NHL.

One week ago, Roman Polak showed all of his teammates and every Leaf fan what being tough as nails really means. In Toronto's matchup against the Washington Capitals, he was battling  man in front of the net when a shot by Troy Brouwer deflected off Tyler Bozak's stick and nailed Polak right in the face. “I just tried to box out the guy and all of a sudden I was on the ice with blood in my hands,” Polak said Tuesday. While his teammates feared he had broken his jaw, Polak sucked it up and got to the locker room under his own power. “He wasn’t making too many noises or anything like that,” said Bozak. “When you see that much blood and everything … obviously he’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever seen.” Although Polak did not suffer a concussion, it did take 15 stitches on the outside of the cheek and seven more inside his mouth to close an open wound in his face. After getting patched up, he insisted he go back to the game and team doctors reluctantly let him back. Polak would help set up Trevor Smith for a goal on his first shift back. “I think it’s pretty wild,” said interim Leafs coach Peter Horachek. “Most people would be in the hospital and he just kept saying: ‘I want to go back out there.’” In an incredibly painful sounding story, Polak said it wasn't even the most painful hockey injury he had experienced. Apparently, when Polak was playing for the St. Louis Blues’ AHL team in Peoria and had a screw inserted to help heal a high-ankle sprain. After the season ended, the doctor told him he would receive an anesthesia for the procedure to remove the screw, but Polak already had a flight home booked for the next morning. He would not be able to fly under anesthesia. So he requested the doctors remove the screw on the spot so he could make his flight. “He used a regular screwdriver,” said Polak. “It was the worst pain in my life.” When asked how the puck to the face compared to that pain-wise, Polak said, “It was all right. “I thought it was going to be worse than that. I think I can still do my modelling career.” What a beast.