The fan who was hit by a puck at a Nashville Predators game at Bridgestone Arena on Jan. 18 was released from the hospital following treatment.
The incident occurred at the 17:03 mark of the first period between the Predators and Minnesota Wild when the puck went out of play and landed in Section 105. The woman, who has not been identified, appeared to be struck in the head.
Arena officials attended to the woman, who was soon transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
An official with the Predators has confirmed to The Tennessean that the fan was released from the hospital soon after receiving treatment and is recovering.
“It was really unfortunate,” coach Andrew Brunette said of the incident. “When you’re in the moment, you worry about it a little bit . . . obviously, everyone was concerned.”
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Predators forward Ryan O’Reilly said he was on the bench at the time and saw the puck enter the stands at a high rate of speed. A clearance attempt by Wild defenseman Jon Merrill glanced off a glass partition, then dove sharply into the lower bowl, missing the safety nets that surround most of the ice.
“Usually people are watching, but the angle it came out, you just couldn’t see it coming . . . there was probably nothing she could do,” O’Reilly said.
Play was delayed while the woman was attended to.
“You could tell everyone, even the refs, felt they had to get a towel over to stop the bleeding,” O’Reilly added.
In 2002, the NHL increased rink safety by standardizing the height of glass partitions, requiring them to be at least five feet in height. They also added ceiling-mounted netting that reached the top of the partition.
This was in response to the death of 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil, who died 48 hours after being hit with a puck during a Columbus Blue Jackets game on March 16, 2002.
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
Last night, a scary incident occurred at the Nashville Predators game when a fan was hit by a puck. The fan, who was seated in the lower bowl of the arena, was struck by a puck that flew over the glass during the game.
Medical staff quickly attended to the fan and he was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation. Thankfully, after being treated for minor injuries, the fan was released and is said to be in good spirits.
The Nashville Predators organization has since reached out to the fan to offer their support and well wishes. They have also reiterated their commitment to fan safety and will be reviewing their safety protocols to prevent incidents like this from happening in the future.
We are relieved to hear that the fan is okay and wish him a speedy recovery. Our thoughts are with him and his family during this time. Stay safe, hockey fans! #Preds #FanSafety #HockeyCommunity
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- Nashville Predators
- Fan injury
- Puck incident
- Hockey game
- Sports injury
- Nashville news
- Predators game
- Fan safety
- NHL incident
- Emergency response.
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