Injuries

Charlie Stuart was a first overall draft pick of the National Hockey League. He was dubbed as the next one or the next generational player. As an 18 year old there was hype around him not since the likes of Connor Mcdavid. The pressure was enormous but Charlie Stuart had been bred for this since he was a child. 

​At his first training camp as an 18 year old he lit up the league, but the skeptics said that was just the preseason where most of the opposition's best players were out of the line up and when they were in the lineup they were playing at half speed. Chris led the league in preseason scoring and eagerly awaited the regular season to begin so he could silence the skeptics. 

His first game was at the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York. The adrenalin surged through his veins as he stood in the dressing room with his teammates waiting to take the ice. Chris could hear the crowd roaring and seconds later his team started to file out onto the ice. Chris felt dizzy as the crowd and the atmosphere were too much for him. During the national anthem he calmed down and refocused. He was in the opening lineup and from the puck drop he breathed fired, scoring on his first shift. On his second shift he chipped a puck past a defender and scored on a breakaway. Then about five minutes later Chris scored his third goal with a blistering one timer on the powerplay. 

His first game was like a dream but half way through the first period it all turned into a nightmare as he was standing in front of the opponent's net and was hit with a 100 mile per hour slapshot in the face and was knocked unconscious. He immediately and fell to the ice, landing on his face. Blood poured out of his head and he was rushed to emergency where he underwent reconstructive face surgery. Chris then slipped into a coma which lasted six months.

When he woke from his coma he spent a year in rehab. Then finally, a year and a half after he was knocked out from a puck to the head it was time for him to make his return. But on his second shift he went into the corner to retrieve a puck, but he hesitated and was hit into the boards with a thunderous bodycheck which knocked him unconscious. Again he was hauled away in an ambulance and for the second time he sadly slipped into a coma. The days turned into weeks and then into months as Chris was deep in his sleep. 

Then one day the General Manager and his assistant came to visit Chris in the hospital. They looked at Chris and shook their heads. They started to speak, little did they know that Chris could hear them.

The General Manager spoke, "He looks pretty bad. His contract is up tomorrow. We can't wait forever. We'll have to release him."

And the two men left the room.