MILAN (AP) — Kevin Fiala going down with a gruesome leg injury and getting taken off the ice on a stretcher is a cruel reminder of the risk hockey players take participating in the Olympics.
Fiala had surgery Saturday on his left leg, and he won't play again in the tournament after getting injured when he got tangled up with Tom Wilson during Switzerland's game against Canada. Given the likelihood that it's severe enough to end his NHL season, too, it's not just a blow to Switzerland but also the Los Angeles Kings as they push to try to make the playoffs.
“It sucks for him and for us,” Kings teammate Adrian Kempe said after Sweden's game against Slovakia. “It’s really tough for him personally and for us as a team. You know how much he means to our team back home in L.A. It’s just very unfortunate for him that it comes in a tournament like this that we’ve been looking forward to playing in for so long.”
The NHL is back in the Games for the first time since 2014, when John Tavares' season with the New York Islanders was cut short when he tore ligaments in his left knee playing for Canada in Sochi. Owners decided not to go to Pyeongchang in 2018 for various reasons, and losing players to injuries at the Olympics has always been an argument against taking part.
Two decades ago in Turin, six-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender and two-time NHL MVP Dominik Hasek tore an adductor muscle, just below his groin, and did not play again for the Ottawa Senators. They lost in the second round when backup Ray Emery allowed 16 goals in five games, and owner Eugene Melnyk in 2021 before his death in 2022 said Hasek's injury cost his team a shot at the Stanley Cup.
Brock Nelson was on the Islanders 12 years ago when they had to go the rest of the way without Tavares and missed the playoffs.
“Johnny was our leader at the time,” said Nelson, who's playing for the U.S. in Milan. “Devastating. You’re happy for him to go over there and represent his country on the biggest stage, but to see him go down was tough. And then for us on the Island, you have to try and bridge that gap as best you can.”
Nelson knows exactly how Kempe and the Kings feel from that experience.
“Obviously you’re never going to replace guys like that — both Johnny and Kevin — but there’s opportunity for guys to be had and I’m sure it’ll be a group mindset for them to try to overcome it,” Nelson said.
The Kings acquiring high-scoring winger Artemi Panarin in a trade with the New York Rangers just before the roster freeze on Feb. 4 is certainly a boost, but Fiala's absence still creates a void. He's their second-leading scorer with 40 points in 46 games.
“It’s really tough," Kings teammate Joel Armia said after Finland's game against Italy. "As soon as I saw it, I was so sad. Yeah, it’s not great.”
A team spokesperson said general manager Ken Holland and coach Jim Hiller will address Fiala’s status when L.A. resumes practice on Wednesday.
The Kings are three points out of the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with 26 games remaining and will attempt to close that gap without Fiala.
“I hope it’s a speedy recovery for Kevin,” said Kempe, who leads the team with 46 points. “He’s an unbelievable player, a great teammate and obviously it sucks to see something happen like that to him.”
Kempe, Nelson and the rest of the NHL players at the Olympics expressed empathy over Fiala's injury. They understand anything can happen when they step onto the ice.
"It’s hockey: You can injure yourself in a practice, in a game," Slovakia's Martin Fehervary said. “Hockey’s a hard sport, and you never know when you can get injured.”
Fehervary has played with Wilson in the league with the Washington Capitals for the past five years. Before that, Czechia's Michal Kempny won the Stanley Cup with Wilson and the Capitals in 2018 and found it incredibly difficult to watch the play on which Fiala was injured.
"I think it was an unlucky accident," Kempny said. “I know Tommy very well: a great man, a great guy, a great teammate. He’s a guy that he’s tough to play against, for sure, but the play last night, I think it was an unlucky play — an accident.”
Accidents and injuries happen in every sport, as evidenced by Lindsey Vonn's horrific crash up in the mountains that broke her left leg. Those involved in hockey at the Olympics do not want to use Fiala getting hurt as any sort of excuse not to participate.
“We’re very conscious of it,” U.S. coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s a violent game, it’s a physical game and you’re always going to assume risk. It’s the nature of the sport. Everybody understands it. But these guys are hockey players. That’s what they do, that’s what they love and they’re going to play hockey.”
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE - Canada forward John Tavares is helped up off the ice by a trainer during the second period of a men's quarterfinal ice hockey game against Latvia at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
FILE - Czech Republic's goalie Dominik Hasek, of the NHL's Ottawa Senators, lies on the ice after injuring his leg during the first period against Germany during a 2006 Winter Olympics men's ice hockey match Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006, in Turin, Italy. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
Injured Switzerland's Kevin Fiala is stretchered off the ice by paramedics, during a preliminary round match of men's ice hockey between Canada and Switzerland at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/The Canadian Press via AP)
