The Loop

David Krejci gets tooth knocked out, ex-teammate picks it up and returns it in awesomely weird gesture

November 30, 2018

Hockey fans will never miss an opportunity to tell you how much tougher NHL players are than other professional athletes. Never mind the fact NFL players play in the equivalent of a car wreck every Sunday afternoon, or that getting in the NBA paint isn't exactly like playing pattycake, or that the MLB ... well, MLB players don't really have a toughness case.

That being said, there is something about hockey players that suggests they are a different breed. A prime example of this is when one of them gets their tooth knocked out and they just keep on playing. While many of us would need to be immediately rushed to the dentist, hockey players ask when there next shift is.

But these tough guys have a soft side as well. On Thursday night, we saw this from New York Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who helped out a former teammate-turned opponent with an awesomely weird gesture. As he looked to enter the neutral zone, Boston Bruins center David Krejci was blown up by Isles defenseman Thomas Hickey, who knocked Krecji's tooth out with the check. Boychuk, who played with Krejci in Boston from 2008 to 2014, found Krejci's lost tooth and returned it to the Bruins bench. What a guy:

Once a teammate always a teammate I guess. Nothing says brotherhood like scooping up your boy's gross tooth and getting it back to him in a timely fashion.