Wild Rose MP Blake Richards posted a photo of his bloodstained hockey jersey on his Twitter site Sunday after he suffered a broken nose during the annual Wild Rose Hockey Challenge charity game the previous night in Cochrane.
The injury occurred at the start of the second period when Richards was racing for the puck near the opposing team's net.
“The goalie came out of the net trying to get a loose puck and the puck came up and bit me in the nose,” Richards told the Albertan Monday.
Richards said he wanted to continue playing, but officials pulled him out of the game due to the amount of blood on the ice from his injury.
“There was a fair amount,” he conceded.
He said going to the after-party at Wild Bill's Saloon in Banff was the least he could do to show his appreciation for the $83,000 raised for victim services, since he was unable to finish the game.
And the pain, he said, “wasn't too bad – I guess I have a fairly high pain tolerance.”
Richards went the next day to Foothills hospital in Calgary where the fracture was set.
On his Twitter site, Richards was nonchalant about the fracture, writing from the after-party: “$83k raised for Victims' Assistance, 1 broken nose, and loads of fun – priceless.”
Showing his blood-streaked post-game jersey, Richards wrote: “I may not play like a real hockey player, but I have the jersey of one.”
He also joked about “the new Blake Richards smiley face: :~)” and wrote, “Yes, I certainly do have the nose of a hockey player right now ;~) All for a good cause …”
Richards said he will be wearing a splint for the next week or two while the bone heals.
“I'm hoping the nose will come back as straight as it was, but we'll just have to wait and see,” he said.
“If I had to put my nose on the line to help raise that much for victim services, it was worth it.”
The event, held at the Spray Lakes Sawmills Recreation Centre in Cochrane, raised money for the Airdrie and District Victim Services, the Bow Valley Victim Services Association, Cochrane and Area Victim Services and the Chinook Arch Victim Services.
Richards skated alongside NHLers including the Flames' Mikael Backlund, the Winnipeg Jets' Jason Jaffray, and alumni Sheldon Kennedy, who last played for the Boston Bruins.
