Penguins rookie knocked unconscious, helped off the ice after nasty collision

Scary scenes tonight in Pittsburgh after a collision between John Ludvig and Radek Faksa forced the former out of the game with the help of his teammates and the medical staff.

Making his NHL debut tonight for the Pittsburgh Penguins forward John Ludvig took the ceremonial first lap all by himself before warm-ups. The 23-year-old was originally drafted in the 3rd round by the Florida Panthers but was placed on waivers in October before being claimed by the Penguins.

With 9:24 remaining in the second period of a 1-1 game, Faksa was traversing the neutral zone with his head down as Ludvig came in with speed and barrelled him down. He slightly left his feet to make the hit but it seemed that right as he made contact with Faksa, he lost consciousness, as he dropped to ice and was not able to move for a little bit.




He was helped off the ice by his teammates in Marcus Pettersson and Noel Acciari and was taken to the locker room by the medical staff.

Ludvig had scored 3 goals and 17 points in 54 games with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL last season.