Music: {allcanada} FEDUN INJURY PROMPTS PLAYER OUTCRY ON NO-TOUCH ICING

Saturday, October 1, 2011

{allcanada} FEDUN INJURY PROMPTS PLAYER OUTCRY ON NO-TOUCH ICING

It's the kind of injury no one ever likes to see.

Early in the second period of Friday's preseason game between the Oilers and the Wild, Oilers rookie hopeful Taylor Fedun went back to touch the puck for an icing call when he got locked up with Minnesota winger Eric Nystrom and slammed his knee hard into the boards.

Fedun immediately hit the ice in serious pain and had to be stretchered off. The result of the play was a broken right femur.

Former Oiler Kurtis Foster immediately felt for the young defender.

In 2008, amidst his first tour of duty with the Wild, Foster broke his left leg in several places after crashing into the boards chasing the puck for an icing call. That injury forced him to miss the final eight games of the 2007-08 season and the first 50 of 2008-09.

Last night's incident was all too familiar for Foster. After contacting Oilers forward Ryan Jones for Fedun's number, he reached out to the young defender via text. He also offered his support to the Oilers medical staff should they need it.

"To be honest, I was hoping and wishing I would never have to see anyone go through what I had to recover from," said Foster. "I really hope this will lead to the changes of the icing rule that need to be made!

With the crackdown on player safety the NHL is currently undergoing, Foster was left to wonder how long the potentially-dangerous play would be part of the game.

"Touch icing is a dangerous play that is not needed in our league and maybe this will open the eyes of the NHL and the NHLPA. A fractured femur for the second time is awful, but let's hope nothing worse happens to somebody someday!"

The injury delivers a serious blow to Fedun's career after he'd worked his way into the fight for jobs on the Oilers blue line. Fedun had been impressing Oiler management in his first pro camp and was a pleaseant surprise.

Teammates were also vocal in their support for the Princeton grad.

"Hoping for the best with Fedun. Need to get rid of touch icings. If not this kind of thing will keep happening," Oilers sophomore Taylor Hall said via Twitter.

There has been no word yet on how long Fedun is expected to miss, only the likelihood that his absence will be prolonged, given the usual recovery time needed for femur injuries.

Fedun was signed as a free agent out of Princeton by the Oilers to a two-year entry-level contract on March 8, 2011.