Knowledge is power

On February 15, the top scorer for the New York Rangers caught a puck in the mouth-spitting out a tooth as he skated toward the bench. Seated there with a trainer hovering and a crimson-stained towel around his neck, Brendan Shanahan, 38, looked like he had just sat down to a plate of pasta and gotten tomato sauce all over himself; he never missed a shift.

Two days later, against the Philadelphia Flyers, the six-foot-three, 220 lb. Shanahan accidentally collided with sic-foot-two, 232 lb. Mike Knuble. Neither player saw the other. Knuble’s broken face will require surgery. Shanahan was out cold and stayed down for 10 minutes before he was wheeled off on a stretcher. After a night in hospital with a concussion, doctors told him to go home and rest; he went to the rink to wish his teammates well against Chicago. The Rangers won. Shanahan will be out at least a week, but not for a lack of heart.