Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald recounts son's nightmare hockey injury - ESPN

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald was out for dinner with his wife when they experienced every parent's worst nightmare.

It was December 28, 2024, and Fitzgerald's son Casey was playing for the American Hockey League's Hartford Wolfpack against Providence. Fitzgerald was streaming the game on his phone at the restaurant. During the second period, he saw Casey go into a corner, get tied up in the play and then start gesturing repeatedly to his neck. That alone concerned Fitzgerald.

The reality of what happened to Casey was much worse than he imagined.

Casey remained on the ice for another 15 seconds or so after the initial contact. He waited until then to ask a referee, «Am I cut?» And the ref, who couldn't see underneath Casey's neck guard, said no. It wasn't until Casey was skating to the bench that a Providence player told him, «Dude, your [expletive] neck is cut.'»

«They rushed him right into the locker room. All we got was, 'the bleeding is under control and he's on his way to the hospital,'» Fitzgerald said. «And they had a team of 12 or 14 people waiting for him when he got there. My wife was a mess. But I was cautiously optimistic because he had stayed on the ice. I don't wish that on any parent.»

It would take 25 stitches to close the wound in Casey's neck that came from a Providence skater's blade. He was able to make a full — and speedy — recovery, returning to the ice just days after that scary incident with a new protector on to cover the area.

The ordeal put plenty in perspective for Fitzgerald and furthered his passion for seeing more NHL players doing everything possible to protect themselves from a similar injury. That's why, when the NHL's VP of hockey operations