Everyone has a pretty good idea of the occupational hazards that come with being a hockey player. They're often pretty evident on players' faces -- the crooked noses, the frequent holes in smiles, and the scars on faces,
But it's not just players who put themselves in jeopardy by being down at ice level. Officials and coaches also often catch bad breaks and, as we saw on Monday night, analysts occasionally aren't safe either.
Rinkside reporter Pierre McGuire, who can usually be found between the benches on NBC broadcasts, nearly ate a puck during the first period of Monday's Lightning-Blue Jackets game in Columbus. The puck careened over the Jackets' bench and whizzed past McGuire's face, and he never saw it coming.
You can see exactly how frighteningly close the puck came to striking him thanks to an incredible shot from a nearby camera, which the puck ultimately drilled right in the lens.
Pierre is a veteran of the broadcasting game and he tried to play it off cool in the aftermath of the scare, but I don't think anyone would be able to blame him if he was just a little shook by the experience. You watch an unexpected vulcanized rubber biscuit come flying past your face, mere inches from wreaking havoc, and you'd probably need a change of underwear.
Luckily, disaster was avoided and McGuire managed to make it through the rest of the contest without incident. He remains a big fan of that puck, which he very fondly remembers watching in a juniors game 15 years ago.
