After an injury to his face from training on Thursday after an unfortunate hit in the face with a hockey stick by Jiří Černoch, striker Jiří Smejkal not only lost two teeth, but a dental examination also revealed a fractured jaw.
The 26-year-old pupil of České Budějovice, who is heading from the Swedish Oskarshamn to Ottawa to fight for the NHL from the new season, still managed 18 minutes and 33 seconds on the ice in Friday’s opening match at the World Cup in Riga against Slovakia in a 3-2 win and was the team’s fourth busiest player coach Kari Jalonen.
He had a full face shield on his helmet because of his broken jaw.
“I have two teeth out and a broken jaw, that’s why I have to play with a cover. If it was only about the teeth, I would play normally without a cover,” Smejkal, who was also present at today’s voluntary training in the Daugava Arena, told reporters.
In addition to him, only goalkeepers Karel Vejmelka, Marek Langhamer, defenders Ronald Knot and Jakub Zbořil, forwards Filip Chytil, Ondřej Beránek and also Daniel Voženílek and Martin Kaut, who remain outside the tournament roster, took part in it.
Smejkal was happy that he managed the match, even though he is struggling with pain after the injury.
“My mouth and teeth hurt. But you can play with it. They told me I could, so that’s good. But it was very visible when I pulled back my upper lip and looked at myself in the mirror. My gum was chipped. Mrs. But the doctor managed it well, I now have wires, teeth tied together to heal the gums,” he described.
He was left with a pool of blood on the ice after an injury during training, but dark thoughts did not overtake him. He believed that he would not miss the start at the tournament, where he is defending his bronze medal from last year’s championship in Tampere and Helsinki.
“I felt like it was a big blow. I was bleeding, I saw a tooth lying on the ice and I thought it probably wasn’t good. But overall I was pretty good. I could even bite. I knew it wasn’t so horrible. I just looked in the mirror and there was a hole in my mouth,” he stated.
He has no idea how badly his jaw is broken. “I don’t even know. I have it hidden under some rubber so the wires don’t rub against my gums. Nothing pleasant.”
During the match, he had to get used to a full-face cover, which is also not entirely comfortable.
“You can’t see like normal, but it’s possible. You forget about it and you still have to play the best you can,” said Smejkal, who didn’t shy away from the fights either. “When I go to a match, I don’t notice if I’m in pain. I play my game. I wanted to see how it holds up in the first substitution. It was fine. Only the visibility is worse,” said Smejkal. He doesn’t blame the black man for accidentally hitting him while trying to shoot.
“It was an accident. He wanted to shoot, missed the puck, and when he turned, he hit me in the mouth with full force,” added Smejkal.
