SHL: Oliver Kapanen was badly injured

Finnish striker Oliver Kapanen21, was badly injured on Saturday in the Swedish SHL.

Olli Jokinen Kapanen, who plays for Timrå IK, hit his head on the ice in the second period of the match, and never returned to the ice.

Kapanen was left struggling with the players of the away team Skellefteå after the puck was already in the goal. The Finn beat the visitors Oscar Lindberg with a cross stick, from which the entire opponent’s five attacked Kapanen.

Skellefteån Oskar Nilsson finally pulled Kapanen back, causing his head to hit the ice violently. Kapanen left holding his head in the suit covers.

“It looked like he hit the back of his head on the ice when he was pulled upside down. It looked worrying,” an expert from the Swedish channel TV4 Joel Lundvist quoth Hockey Sweden by.

A video of the situation can be seen from here.

“Their guy comes over there to bully, or I don’t know, tries to push our guy. I jumped in, then it became a wrestling match and we all fell,” Nilsson told TV4 Aftonbladet by.

Skellefteå was underpowered in the situation, as both Nilsson and Kapanen also attacked Richard Hugg received two minute penalties. Kapanen, who had left the ice, was also frozen by the situation.

“I thought it was very strange,” Nilsson commented on being outnumbered.

The match finally ended with a 4–1 victory for Timrå. The Swede scored the winning goal of the match Magnus Pääjärvi33, who managed to score twice.

Pääjärvi scored Sweden’s only goal when they lost to Finland in the World Cup final in 2011 with a score of 6–1.

Last season Kapanen, who took a huge leap in development, played the first season in the Montreal Canadiens shirt in the NHL. He managed to play 12 matches in the taala league with an output of 0+2.

After returning to Europe, he has scored 16 points (6+10) in 17 matches for Timrå.