DENVER (AP) — Winnipeg forward Vladislav Namestnikov was taken to the hospital for evaluation after a puck hit him on the left side of his face in Game 4 against Colorado on Sunday.
Jets coach Rick Bowness had no further update on Namestnikov following a 5-1 loss in a first-round series that Colorado leads 3-1.
Namestnikov was trying to jump out of the way of a shot from teammate Nate Schmidt when the puck hit a stick and struck him midway through the third period. Namestnikov stayed down on the ice as trainers rushed out. He skated off with help and exited through the Avalanche bench. The 31-year-old Namestnikov had a towel pressed to his face.
“It’s scary,” Winnipeg teammate Mark Scheifele said. “You never want to see that much blood, no matter what, no matter who it is. Especially a guy on our squad. That sucks. All you can do is hope and pray that he’s OK. That’s a scary one. Just got to pray for him.”
Nashville captain Roman Josi and Vancouver defenseman Tyler Myers each took pucks to the face in the first period of Game 4 of their first-round series Sunday. Both returned early in the second period.
Josi, the 2020 Norris Trophy winner, took a puck off the face near his right ear. He went back on the ice for his seventh shift of the first period. That lasted 8 seconds until an official sent him to the bench, and Josi went into the tunnel for treatment skating only 4:53 of the first.
Then Nashville center Tommy Novak's shot at the right circle hit Myers near his nose with 1:35 left in the period. Myers dropped to the ice, and a trainer rushed out to put a towel to his face before going with him to the bench.
It's the second scary situation involving the Jets in the series.
In Friday's game, Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon suffered a laceration on his hand that required stitches. Dillon was apparently cut by a skate blade during a scrum after the final horn. He skated toward the locker room holding his bleeding hand.
Dillon was ruled out Sunday.
“There are a lot of stitches holding it together, so our doctors are a little hesitant to put him back in this quick,” Bowness said. "If you asked him, he’d play. He’d just tape the whole hand up and play. He has that much desire.”
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59) warms up before the start of Game 4 against the Vancouver Canucks in an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Trainers attend to Winnipeg Jets center Vladislav Namestnikov after he was hit in the face by a slap shot in the third period of Game 4 of an NHL Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche, Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Winnipeg Jets center Vladislav Namestnikov, center, is helped off the ice after taking a slap shot in the face in the third period of Game 4 of an NHL Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche, Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Winnipeg Jets center Vladislav Namestnikov (7) falls to the ice after taking a slap shot to the face in the third period of Game 4 of an NHL Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche, Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Tiger Woods brings a lot of uncertainty to Valhalla for the PGA Championship. Some of that has to do with his achy body. And some of that involved the Ryder Cup.
The PGA of America still has not settled on a captain for the 2025 matches at Bethpage Black, with Woods as the most obvious candidate. Seth Waugh, CEO of the PGA of America, had said he would be speaking to Woods.
“We're still talking,” Woods said Tuesday. “There’s nothing that has been confirmed yet. We’re still working on what that might look like — also whether or not I have the time to do it.”
The PGA of America typically announces the Ryder Cup captain well before the Masters of the preceding year. Zach Johnson was announced in February 2022 for last year's Ryder Cup.
Woods, who has teed it up only twice this year going into the PGA Championship, is keeping plenty busy off the golf course. He was appointed to the PGA Tour board last summer and has been a central voice in meetings. Woods also is on the committee that is meeting with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia about becoming a minority investor.
The U.S. Ryder Cup captain, whoever that is, has a lot of promoting to do, which includes a “one year out” event at Bethpage Black in September.
“I need to feel that I can give the amount of time that it deserves,” said Woods, who won his second U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in 2002.
Woods had mixed memories when he returned to Valhalla. He played a practice round late last week and was on the course the past two days. Heavy thunderstorms shut the course for a few hours on Tuesday.
There was 2000, where he made what he still considers the most pressure-filled putt of his career. He had a fabulous duel with unheralded Bob May, ending with Woods having to make a 6-foot birdie putt on the last hole to force a playoff.
And there was 2014, when he was trying to recover from the first of four back surgeries. Woods had to withdraw the previous week at Firestone, and he didn't come close to making the cut at Valhalla.
“At that time I was maybe one back procedure into it. Now it’s a hell of a lot more than that number,” he said. “Back is now fused, as you know. Yeah, coming into 2014, I wasn’t feeling very good. But I’m always going to feel soreness and stiffness in my back, but that’s OK. Just need other body parts to start feeling better.”
He also needs more than two good rounds. Woods set a Masters record this year by making the cut for the 24th consecutive time, but he followed with an 82 in the third round and wound up in last place among those who made the cut.
He has not played since then.
“I still feel that I can win golf tournaments. I still feel I can hit the shots and still feel like I still have my hand around the greens and I can putt,” Woods said. “I just need to do it for all four days, not like I did at Augusta for only two.”
As for his other job, Woods didn't reveal much about discussions with PIF or any of the obstacles in the way of the sport somehow being reunited. He described negotiations as fluid, with plenty of work ahead.
“It may not be giant steps, but we're making steps,” he said.
He also said he was surprised by the resignation Monday of Jimmy Dunne, a PGA Tour board member and key architect of the June 6 framework agreement with the Saudis.
Dunne said that with the balance now tilting toward players over business leaders on the PGA Tour board, he felt his input was “superfluous.” Woods was asked if golfers were best suited to handle business dealings of the PGA Tour.
“Well, the PGA Tour is for the players and by the players. So, we have an influence and there’s roles for the player directors and there’s roles for the independents,” he said. "We’re trying to make the PGA Tour the best it can be day in and day out.
“That’s one of the reasons why we have arguments and we have disagreements, but we want to do what’s best for everyone in golf and the tour.”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Tiger Woods hits his tee shot on the fifth hole during a practice round for the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Tiger Woods speaks during a news conference at the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Tiger Woods walks to the fifth hole during a practice round for the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Tiger Woods speaks during a news conference at the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
