Incident involving Sens prospect reveals SHL arena using glass not approved for play (w/video)
Some scary moments for Ottawa Senators prospect Eric Engstrand during a game in the Swedish Hockey League earlier this week. Engstand, who is currently playing for Malmo, was checked into the boards by Stefan Warg of Djurgarden, and his head went completely through the plexi-glass leaving his face and neck exposes to sharp shards. Here's video of the incident. It should start in the right place, but if not, fast forward to around 47 seconds in.
After this incident on Thursday, it is now being reported that Djurgarden's arena includes plexi-glass that has not been approved for "elite games" and has been running on an exemption for the past six years.
"It is very strange," said former SHL player Nils Andersson who is now a representative for the Players' Union. "It can cut up a body and we can not wait until there is an accident."
According to Aftonbladet, this is the third time in a short period that the glass at Djurgarden's arena has broken during an SHL game.
"In 2016, the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation introduced new rules requiring all stadiums in the two highest hockey leagues to have so-called "flex-frame", which means that the frame and Plexiglas absorb the force of a hit and reduce friction. Such a system is not available at the Hovet (Djurgarden's arena)." - Aftonbladet
A spokesperson for Djurgarden insisted that everything in the arena has been approved by the league and the Players' Union, and that he's not at all worried the safety of players playing at the arena. This was echoed by Johan Hemlin, sports director with the SHL.
"The safety of the players is an important issues, but we follow the hockey association's decisions and guidelines."
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Patrick Maroon | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Lukas Reichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Travis Konecny | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Noah Cates | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sean Couturier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Marcus Johansson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Matvei Michkov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kevin Rooney | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Matthew Boldy | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bobby Brink | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tyson Foerster | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Justin Kirkland | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Daniil Miromanov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Connor Murphy | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Rasmus Ristolainen | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Travis Sanheim | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Craig Smith | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nolan Allan | - | - | - | |
| Joey Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Michael Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||