Brady Tkachuk Describes Brief Vision Loss During Game As ‘Weird And Scary’

Tkachuk says he feels good now after briefly suffering mid-game vision loss in Saturday’s game against the New York Islanders.
Brady Tkachuk’s injury against the New York Islanders on Saturday afternoon will go down as one of the strangest of the entire season.

While the Senators’ captain was defending in the neutral zone in front of the players’ benches, Islanders defenceman Ryan Pulock jumped off the bench and lightly bumped into Tkachuk.

Tkachuk then immediately turned around to make his way to the bench and was clearly wobbly as he climbed on. He tried to come out for one more shift but then called it a day. The team said after the game that he wasn’t feeling well.

Playwire House Ad

Senators captain Brady Tkachuk describes the club’s long haul to get to the playoffs (Credit: Ottawa Senators)
Then the captain didn’t play in the club’s final road game of the year Sunday afternoon in New Jersey.

Meanwhile, on the doorstep of the NHL playoffs, Senators fans repeatedly reviewed the video of the incident like it was the Zapruder film, trying to make heads or tails of what might have happened and exactly what Tkachuk’s injury might be.

Tkachuk confirmed on Tuesday that there was no high stick from Pulock or any contact to the head prior to his leaving the game. He said that after he threw a hit in the corner, he started to lose vision.

Playwire House Ad

“I mean, that was one of the weirdest, honestly scary moments,” Tkachuk told the media. “Yeah, just, I don’t know, all the tests came back clear and fine. Everything’s all good.

“But yeah, I threw a hit in the corner and just slowly, kind of, my vision just started going. And nothing hit me in the head all game.

“I just kind of lost vision. I saw the video. (Pulock’s) stick never hit me, coming off the bench. But right when I sat down, I kind of got everything back really quick, but obviously it was nerve-wracking and scary.

“And feeling good, did a bunch of tests. Feeling good. So we’ll see about tomorrow, but feeling good. Ready to go for what’s to come.”

While all the tests were clear, it cannot be overlooked that something caused the problem, not to mention the fact that it’s highly uncommon for a pro athlete to lose vision in the middle of a game.

TSN’s Claire Hanna wondered if the doctors had any explanation for why something like this would happen.

“I mean, there’s a lot of could-be’s, and a lot of tests for different types of things, and everything was good,” Tkachuk replied. “So yeah, I mean, I know I could be battling something, and that’s just how my body reacted to it. So it’s unique. The good thing about it is, you know, getting out there, feeling better and ready to go.

Tkachuk isn’t sure yet about his status for Wednesday’s season finale at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs. But Travis Green will likely be sitting some players out again.

The Sens are locked in as either the first or second wild card. But Boston could settle the matter with a win on Tuesday against the Devils. That would mean the Sens will finish as WC2 and face top-seed Carolina in round one.