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Hard to Watch

No one has ever risked more to stay onside than Andrei Svechnikov did on Sunday

February 01, 2021

Hockey players are tough. It’s the oldest cliche in the book because it’s true. Bicuspids are a luxury and ligaments optional. Bruises are a practical eye color and the less said about the knuckles, the better. In other words, it takes a lot to make a pucks fan squeamish, but Carolina Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov managed to give the hockey world a collective cringe on Sunday night, flexing his body in ungodly ways in order to stay onside during a crucial overtime attack. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Somewhere Jean-Claude Van Damme is smiling. The rest of us, however, can only look on in horror. And if you think that’s tough to stomach, just wait until you see the video.

No thank you very much. Our delicate loins are screaming as Svechnikov rides that out for way longer than any human being has a right to. Then right as the video cuts, both his knees buckle in, sending even the hardest hardos among us running for the fainting couch.

In the end, the Hurricanes did take home the dubya, but it took a shootout to do it, with Svechnikov’s sacrifice ultimately amounting to little more than locker room brownie points and a popular reddit post. Is that enough justify nearly tearing yourself in half like a piece of string cheese? For the mere mortal, absolutely not, but like we said at the start, hockey players are tough.