Word is that the 30-year-old Canadian has to undergo surgery, in which the doctors have to stabilize the fractured vertebra in order to keep it from pressing against the spinal cord. For that, they need to fuse the vertebra. A procedure, which most likely leads to a restricted movement that makes it impossible to play hockey at a professional level.
The accident happened in last Friday's game against Fribourg-Gottéron, when Smith attempted to hit HCFG's Marc-Antoine Pouliot in the 15th minute of play. Pouliot, however, was able to dodge the hit and Smith crashed into the boards at full speed. The Canadian was not able to get up, was then fitted with a neck brace and taken off the ice on a stretcher.
UPDATE As Blick's Stephan Roth reports, the ZSC Lions say that Smith is feeling well and that no operation is planned. As they informed earlier, they expect him to be back in three months. - 9 December 2014, 2:03 PM
@SwissHockeyNews @zsclions say Smith is well and no operation is planed. They expect him to be back in 3 months. Get well soon @dasmitty24!
— Stephan Roth (@9Roth) December 9, 2014
