All those clichés about how tough NHL players are, persisting through broken bones, lost teeth and bloody stitches? Yeah. They're true. And if you're looking for evidence of this fact, look no further than Vancouver Canucks rookie Jake Virtanen.
Virtanen, the Canucks first-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, scored a goal for his team during their preseason game against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Only this was no ordinary marker. Canucks defenseman Yannick Weber took a shot from just outside the circle that seemed to deflect off a body or a stick in front and found the back of the net.
As you can tell from the video below, that body turned out to be Virtanen's. The body part? His face.
That looks like it hurt. But the adrenaline rush from scoring a professional goal likely aided Virtanen to pulling himself up off the ice, waving to the crowd and waddling to the dressing room.
Only Virtanen wasn't finished.
20 minutes after SCORING A GOAL WITH HIS FACE, Jake Virtanen is back with stitches under his eye. pic.twitter.com/EcLopOFkbk
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) October 2, 2015
That's one tough guy. Or one exceedingly normal hockey player.
