Michal Kempny Injured After Being Cut By Skate Blade With HC Sparta

Former Washington Capitals defenseman Michal Kempny has seen his fair share of injury struggles over the last four years, and as he returned home to Czechia to play for HC Sparta this season, he suffered yet another injury to the left leg.

During his second game with the Czech League’s HC Sparta Praha, Kempny was cut by an opponent’s skate blade, resulting in a severe laceration. There was quite a bit of blood, and the 32-year-old blueliner was taken off the ice on a stretcher.

The team announced on Friday that he was under the care of doctors and that there are no serious health threats as a result of the injury but that he would not be playing.

Here’s what happened (graphic content):

(Video from Extraliga/Youtube)

This is the fourth major injury to impact Kempny’s left leg over the last few seasons. In March 2019, he suffered a torn hamstring that held him out for the team’s title defense. He also had a hard time coming back and struggled in 2019-20. Kempnythen suffered a torn Achilles while training in the 2020 offseason, leading him to miss 6-8 months. And as he returned and went to Hershey for a conditioning stint, he suffered an MCL strain in his left leg after a freak collision with an ice shoveler during a break.

Michal Kempný opouští zápas na nosítkách, podle všeho řezná rána na noze.

Hrozný smolař 🙈 Snad to nebude nic vážnýho. ✊️ pic.twitter.com/HM2QE4zBpT

— Jiří Vítek (@JVitek94) October 28, 2022

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Kempny played four years with Washington and was instrumental in helping the team capture the Stanley Cup in 2018 after coming in at the trade deadline. After dishing 12 goals and 36 assists in 166 career games with the Capitals, he chose to sign with the Seattle Kraken this offseason, considering he was no longer a regular in the lineup and wanted more opportunity. That fell through, though, as he found himself the odd man out and chose to terminate his contract. He then signed a two-year deal with HC Sparta Praha.

In his debut with the club earlier this week, Kempny was all over the ice and also had an assist en route to an OT victory for his new club.